by Susan Kelley
He hid the scooter in an abandoned garage on the edge of the city. Setting one weapon on stun, Joe proceeded on foot. He hoped to avoid all contact with Callie’s guardsmen. He didn’t want to hurt any of them, but nothing would keep him from her for another night.
* * * *
Callie could smell him. Though she knew she dreamed, she didn’t try to wake. Her life back on Giroux seemed so strange, so … alien.
Being marooned had transformed her. Before she’d been focused on her own difficulties with Hadrason, but now she saw her situation comprised only a small part of the widespread corruption in the ruling body of the galactic government.
She leaned against Joe’s warmth, careful not to wake up and ruin her dream. Trouble awaited her at daylight, but not now.
He kissed her hair. His breath feathered across her forehead. No dream had ever felt so real. She curled closer to his hard body, inhaling his clean, masculine scent.
“Callie,” he whispered.
“I miss you,” Callie tried to say.
“Should I stay?”
Callie blinked, noticing a lightening in the squares of sky she could see through the ceiling windows. A dark shadow loomed over her. Caught between dream and wakefulness, Callie struggled to sit up.
“Callie?”
She froze. “Joe? Are you here?” She reached out and touched his face. The familiar contours of his square jaw and smooth cheeks were warm beneath her fingers.
“Your guardsmen should be executed for incompetence.”
Callie smiled, but tears welled up in her eyes. A sob clogged her throat, then another so they spilled out together.
* * * *
Joe watched Callie’s face crumble as great wrenching sobs erupted from somewhere deep inside her. Horrified by the sound, he retreated off the edge of the bed.
She flung herself against him, knocking him to the floor with the surprise of her assault.
He heard words mixed in with her sobs, but he couldn’t make any sense of them. Distressed both by causing such a reaction and by his lack of understanding of what exactly he had done, Joe tried to lift her off of him. She clung tighter, some of her tears soaking into his shirt and sending jolts of energy through him.
How could he have imagined she wanted him here in her world? Why had he followed her?
“You’re here,” Callie mumbled, somewhat coherently. “I thought I was dreaming.”
“I’ll leave.” He thought he would shoot himself if it would stop her tears. At least her racking sobs had stopped.
Callie dug her fingers into his fitted shirt, gathering his skin with it. “You’re not leaving. I made you my marine.”
Joe tried to undo her grip. “Callie, I don’t understand.”
She laughed, a watery sound behind her mirth.
He knew she laughed at him, but his tension eased. The odd feeling in his chest he associated with Callie filled him. He thought it might be happiness.
“Of course you don’t understand.” She released his shirt. “Guess I really knocked you on your ass, marine. Let’s get off the floor.”
He helped her up, and they climbed into bed. The room brightened with the pleasant gray light that came before the dawn of a yellow sun.
“Joe, I shouldn’t have asked you to come with me, but I’m glad you’re here. Did you see the Galactic Army ship that brought me is staying in orbit? How did you get past my guards? Do you like my home? Where did you hide your ship?”
Joe didn’t know how to answer all her questions so he ended them. Pulling her close, Joe wrapped his arms around her and covered her sweet lips with his own.
* * * *
Callie let the sensations sweep over her. His strong arms pulled her close, pressing her breasts against his hard chest. She opened his mouth to receive his talented tongue.
Her eased her unto her back and settled his weight on top of her. His thin camouflage clothing did little to disguise his erection as it pushed against her.
“Joe, I want you. I want you inside me now.”
He rose only long enough to strip off his pants and lift her gown. The instant he slid into her a completeness settled over her. Her strange alienated mood of the past few days dissipated. She was home.
Her body rose to meet Joe’s thrusts, and her groan joined his as nerve endings exploded in mind-blanking pleasure. It was better than her dream.
Chapter Eleven
“Captain Jak Sontu, this is my personal bodyguard, Joe.”
Sontu looked Joe over with a sour expression, still fuming over the security breach the previous night.
Joe stood at attention. He wore a black shirt and pants that exhibited his lean, muscular form and reminded intimate parts of Callie’s body of their early morning activities. She’d purchased the uniform for him when she’d bought her own new attire at the trading outpost. His shirt needed only the silver teardrop emblem to be a perfect representation of Giroux military pride.
Sontu’s sighed and nodded. “As you wish, your highness. Hopefully we’ll learn to work together.”
Callie took her seat on the raised chair she used to receive visitors. Joe moved to her right hand, and Jak stood to her left. “Who waits to see me first, Jak?”
“Minister Cresbol.”
Callie’s mood wilted. Her minister of diplomacy had held the post since Callie’s father’s day. Why hadn’t she replaced her before now?
“If I may speak freely, your highness?” Sontu asked.
“Of course. You know I value your opinion.”
During Callie’s father’s rule, Sontu had only to guard against thieves who would try to steal elixir. It wasn’t his fault that Giroux was unprepared for the threats it now faced.
“I’ve already told you most of what she’s done but not all the details. She tried to push through some changes in policy while you were gone.”
“Such as?”
“Who we export to and what items we tax on import. She levied terms of service to a number of craftsmen to fix her own residence.”
“She’s permitted that.”
“Over a hundred men?” Sontu shook his head. “She also tried to sit on your chair and receive petitioners. I stopped that but not before her hirelings and my guards clashed.”
“Hirelings?” Joe spoke for the first time.
“Two men she keeps by her side, claiming she needs personal protection when she meets with outworlders. One is Bran Foy, a mercenary if ever I met one. The other is a sneaky sort called Emer Mast.”
“Mast?” Joe stepped in front of Callie, his sudden tension making her scalp tingle.
“You know him?” Sontu asked.
“He works for hire. Kidnapping or assassination.”
If Sontu wondered, as Callie did, how Joe knew this, he didn’t ask. “I’ll have him seized immediately. There’s likely something in the Galactic Criminal Data Base about him.”
“He does most of his work for the Galactic Military Ministry,” Joe said. “He’s not considered a criminal. The best way to deal with him is to kill him before he kills you.”
“That would make us no better than he is,” Sontu sputtered.
“Why do you think we’re better than him?” Joe asked, genuine puzzlement in his tone.
“Gentlemen, if we arrest him or kill him, they’ll only send another one. Whoever they might be. We might not recognize the next one. Better the enemy we know.”
“It’s too dangerous,” Sontu protested.
Callie turned to Joe. “Is this Mast fellow better than you? Can you protect me from him?”
Joe didn’t look happy, but he nodded. “I can, but I’d rather kill him.”
“You can kill him later.” Callie gestured to Sontu. “Show my minister in.”
Dania Cresbol swept down the carpeted walkway with her usual crisp stride.
Two men walked slightly behind her. Their sharp gazes swept over Joe and Sontu. Almost simultaneously, their stares snapped back to Joe. The shorter one with cold bl
ue eyes broke stride and fell behind for a step. The other moved closer to Dania, glaring at Joe.
“I’ve been waiting half the morning, Callie,” Dania snapped, sparing not a glance for the men.
Joe stepped in front of Callie and brought Dania’s harsh attention to him.
Callie was too shocked by the woman’s attitude and disrespectful greeting to answer.
Joe had no such problem. “Greet your queen with proper title.” It wasn’t the words as much as the tone of his voice.
Dania’s mouth dropped open, and her face went pale.
“My queen?” Joe didn’t look away from the minister.
“Give her a chance. I’m sure Minister Cresbol has been overwrought with concern while I was missing.”
Dania closed her gaping mouth and swallowed. “Of course I was. Our people need their queen. I’m sure there was a good reason for the delay in receiving me, your highness.”
Callie nodded her acceptance though the words weren’t quite an apology. She took care not to show amusement, but having Joe at her side made her problems seem less insurmountable.
“Actually, we were discussing the large number of men you’ve drafted while I was away. Perhaps you could explain. Also you could describe the changes you felt necessary in our trade policies.”
Dania threw a dagger of a glare at Sontu and then lifted her chin. The captain didn’t see it as he watched the minister’s two guards.
“Captain,” Callie said. “Please see these men to the door. This is a private meeting between my minister and me. Make sure no one else enters until we’ve finished speaking.”
Sontu gestured to Dania’s men toward the door, a grim smile curving his lips.
“Your highness, these men are entirely circumspect and will keep anything we say quiet. They protect me.” Dania lifted her chin.
“Dare you insult me, minister? Do you feel unsafe within my hall?”
“It’s not that….”
“Escort them out, Captain Sontu,” Callie snapped. Had she once permitted her orders to be questioned so? No wonder Hadrason thought he could take Giroux and control her.
No one spoke as the three men strode toward the exit. The shorter one turned once to give Joe a narrowed-eye glare.
“What of your man, my queen?” Dania appraised Joe from head to toe. “He’s pretty to look at, but your hall has decorations aplenty. Is he going to leave also?”
“He stays with me at all times.”
Dania swept Joe with a speculative glance again. Then she turned back to Callie with a sly expression on her face. “You’ve taken a guard as a lover? I must advice you, dear, that such a thing will make you a laughing stock among your peers. Especially if you parade him at your side. I know you’re inexperienced with men, but don’t let a girlish crush embarrass you.”
Callie stood, her height and the raised dais allowing her to tower over Dania. “Never had you had the right of station or friendship to speculate or comment on my personal life, minister. You keep your damned opinions to yourself or you’ll find yourself the exiled governor of our newest colony. You wouldn’t like it and would be lucky to survive it. Am I clear?”
Dania bowed her head, but not before Callie saw the spark of hatred in her eyes. How badly had she underestimated the woman’s enmity?
* * * *
Joe listened to the numerous petitioners, amazed at the variety of problems they put to Callie. The elderly man speaking now wanted justice for his widowed daughter. A miner had beaten her husband to death as he protected his wife from rape. The poor woman had been assaulted in the dirt beside her husband’s body.
“Hadrason Mining.” Callie’s voice trembled with an emotion Joe understood to be rage.
“That would be right, your highness.” Tears rolled down the hills and valleys of the old man’s face.
“Can you identify this man?”
“My daughter can. He’s still working the hills north of the city.”
“Leave your name with Captain Sontu, good sir. We’ll find justice for your daughter.”
The man ducked his head, showing Callie respect as all her people except the Dania woman had done. The old man shuffled toward the back door, his shoulders stooped with age or grief.
“The same thing happened to Riba,” Callie said after the door closed behind the old man.
“She was raped by a miner?” Joe’s stomach clenched at the idea of kind, gentle Riba being violated.
“Yes. She almost died. Sally is the result of that attack.”
“How did you kill the miner?”
Callie gave him one of her looks that meant he’d said something wrong. “We never caught him.”
“Why are the miners on Giroux? Isn’t this Hadrason your enemy?”
Callie stood and stretched, her full breasts pushing against the thin silk of her golden gown. Had it only been hours ago that he’d held her? He wanted her with an intensity that was more than a physical demand. How could such fierce sexual pleasure bring him tranquility?
“My people are free,” Callie said as she descended the two steps leading up to her chair. “They own their land and often sell the small amounts of ore they find to outworld companies. Hadrason Mining can usually outbid its competitors.”
Joe understood very little about commerce, but doing business with one’s enemies made no sense.
Callie took Joe’s arm and led him from the hall. “Jak is joining us for the mid day meal. I’m starving.”
Sontu waited for them in a small dining hall that was the fanciest room Joe had ever eaten in. The captain pulled Callie’s chair out for her, earning a grateful smile.
Joe stored the small lesson on manners he’d just witnessed. Next time he would be the one to hold her chair.
Sontu spoke to Joe as he took his own seat. “I’ve rearranged the sentries as you suggested … I can’t call you Joe.”
“My name is Joe.” Remembering Callie’s initial reaction to his lack of family name, Joe braced for the captain’s reaction.
“We should have a title for you. Not having a last name might raise someone’s curiosity.” Sontu spoke with no judgment in his voice.
“Good idea.” Callie smiled in a way that lightened Joe’s mood after listening to people’s problems and complaints all morning. “How about commander?”
“A title, not a rank, might be better. Something that doesn’t need a name tacked onto it,” Sontu suggested.
“During training I was called First,” Joe offered.
“No, we better not use that,” Sontu mused. “It might give you away if the wrong person heard it.”
Two female servers brought in steaming bowls of spicy broth, warm bread and sliced sweet melons. Callie dismissed them and continued their discussion. “It should be a title that carries authority both civilian and military.”
Sontu looked at Joe with a measuring look in his eyes. “Long ago on Giroux, each king would select four men to be his personal guards. Things were a bit wilder back then. These four men were the best of his warriors, unmatched in loyalty and valor. They were called sentinels. There hasn’t been one for two centuries.”
“Sentinel,” Callie repeated. “I like it. It has history, and it’s a powerful word.”
Callie and Sontu smiled and turned to Joe. Did they want his thoughts? “I … it doesn’t matter to me.”
Sontu laughed. “I suppose not. Now about this miner you’re going after tomorrow. I want to send some men with you.”
“Why?”
“Sentinel,” Sontu said as if trying out the title, “you’re not familiar with the ways of our people. They don’t know you yet. A few of my soldiers will give you legitimacy.”
“It’s best, Joe,” Callie said.
“I won’t kill him.”
“I believe you, but take the men anyway. And make sure you’re back in time for the celebratory banquet. I need to introduce you to the entire council.”
Joe studied Callie’s expression. It wasn’t
quite amusement, more like satisfaction. Though not quite that either.
The meal continued while Joe tried to figure out the way Callie looked at him. Her gaze slid over him when he filled her glass with more iced water. He placed the gleam in her eyes then. It was the look of possession. He’d seen it many times in the eyes of military men sending him and his recon marines into the teeth of a battle.
* * * *
Callie took special care with her bath, using the few expensive oils she had. She hadn’t seen Joe since the meal at mid day. He’d claimed the need to help Captain Sontu with various projects.
After rising from her bath, Callie smoothed lotion over her arms and legs, even rubbing a bit on her stomach. She slipped on a thin robe and then poured a cup of hot tea. Her short time on Crevan Four had created a habit of a warm drink in the cold, dark time before sleep.
She glanced at her big soft bed, her heart hammering with anticipation of another night in Joe’s arms. Her skin tingled along her inner thighs, and her breasts ached with a pleasurable fullness.
She paced to work off the energy humming through her. A kernel of shame pricked her. How could she obsess about making love when so many threats hung over her?
Was Dania plotting against her, or was she only an ambitious woman plotting to gain power? Had Dania hired the assassin, Mast, or had he been sent by someone else and managed to find employment with the arrogant minister? Did Mast recognize Joe? Would he contact the authorities and turn in her marine?
The door swished open, and Joe glided into the room. Callie drank in the sight of him. The black uniform clung to his body like morning dew to applenut blossoms. Beautiful.
A hot ugly emotion seared through her. Tomorrow’s celebratory banquet would bring many women to the palace. Would not every one of them lust for her marine? Crevan Four’s isolation had spoiled her. There had been no competition, no lovely, shapely women to tempt Joe’s virility.
“Callie?” Though Joe’s understanding of society remained very limited, his sensitivity to her moods seemed extrasensory.
Callie shook off her silly jealousy. Nothing had happened to cause it. Yet. “Tell me about our defenses and what you think we’ll need to fix.”
