Home in the Stars Box Set

by Mason, Jolie

  He obliged request for speed by flipping her down to her back with her blond curls resting comfortably on her pillows. He pinned her with his left hand and never stopped moving his right within her. He watched her face for signs, wanting her climax wildly, wanting to feel it desperately.

  In less than two minutes, she did, her body clenching his hand and shaking. She vocalized loudly, feeding his ego and his fantasies. She called his name and fought the hand that held her still.

  Then again, the fantasies he'd indulged hadn't burned this hot. Rather, he'd put her on a pedestal of sorts. Something, about this act, made her seem closer, more attainable than he'd imagined her. Emery watched her chest rise and fall, perfect tiny nipples painted perfect rounded breasts. The innocent, heart shaped line of her face with eyes closed in rapt adoration of something divine stole any will he had to say no to her ever again.

  He pulled her down off the pillows roughly. Her blue eyes opened, electric with the orgasm found in his hands. He spread her body and whispered, “Hold on”. She reached for him, grasping his forearms so tightly he felt the light score of her neatly clipped little nails.

  He slid the closure of his pants open and brushed his clothes away in irritated haste. Freedom relieved some of the strain on his cock, but it also ratcheted up the need to feel her again. Lifting her hips, he plunged himself into her with a rough exhale. She shouted, a sound bordering joy, and he felt a jolt of pride infuse his desire for her.

  He wanted that joy. He wanted to swallow that sound on her lips, so he did. Thrusting into her again and again, harder and harder, he kissed her fiercely. Selfishly, every sound of her growing pleasure, he consumed, until he was full and she yelled his name in his ear and keened as she fell back to the bed.

  He pushed harder, cupping her knees and pulling her closer, slamming her body down on his repeatedly to make her do that one more time, one more, just once more, and he did, until she finally begged him to stop.

  Emery chuckled even as he closed his eyes letting her knees fall to the bed. He lowered his body to hers, slick with sweat, and he cupped her face for long, sensuous, consuming kisses. He took his time, realizing he seduced himself more than he seduced her. His need rose to a fevered pitch slowly, boiling like magma under a planet's crust, forcing its way up and out.

  “Emery”, she said twisting her head. The word on her tongue was just an incoherent cry for an end. He heard it.

  Breathlessly, he said in her ear, “Ask.”

  She moaned.

  “Ask”, he said on a thrust.

  “Please”, she sobbed. He reached between them thumbing her clit. She arched a final time giving a hoarse cry, and he came with his own shocked shout of her name. When he fell, he made sure to fall away from her, to his side with his hands curled across her abdomen. It was then he realized he still wore his cargoes around his legs and laughed.

  “What?” she said sleepily.

  “I didn't get my pants off.”

  She ran a weak, flaccid hand along his breastbone. Lying there, he touched her everywhere, memorizing the feel of her beneath his hand, just in case, because suddenly he remembered, he hadn't told her the most important secret he'd been keeping.

  ***#***

  She had no idea how long she'd floated in that placid sea of contentment he sent her to, but she knew when it was over by the blaring of the proximity alert and young Ian's excited voice across the comm.

  “Imperial cruisers, four of them!”

  She felt Emery's body jump from the bed and jerk his pants up. He was gone before she even started to put her clothes back on. Fighting off the sluggishness of their stolen moment, she ran hell for leather for the bridge where Emery was already maneuvering them away from the solar relay. He shouted over the comm. “Ian, do you have them?”

  A long break slid through the comms, as he looked in dismay at Luca. “Ian”, he repeated again in a hopeless tone. “Do you have the chit?”

  “Yes, shuttle loaded. I have the chit.”

  “Then, run, kid. Hit the heat filters and keep behind us till you find cover. Havoc Station is the only place you can go. Hide. And stay hidden.”

  Sounding for the first time like the young boy he really was, Ian demanded, “Are you coming back? Are you coming back for us?”

  Luca stared at the four massive ships on the viewer, then at Emery's distraught face in profile, head bowed. She hit the comm panel nearest her. “Ian, there's four of them. They're going to take us. They will board. You need to be gone.”

  “Yes”, he said softly, frightened. “Yes, Captain.”

  In moments, they registered the cargo bay doors, still blessedly turned away from the vantage point of the cruisers, open and expel nothing on sensors. The kid had engaged stealth and run like he'd been told. She admired the boy more than ever, and wished him a silent godspeed.

  “Gods, Emery, I'm starting to think we're cursed.”

  He didn't say a word because the thought had already occurred to him. He took one long glance at her as she leaned over the comm panel watching to see if any of the cruisers broke off, and none did. The shuttle was away, at least.

  Emery kept one eye on the fleet as he very deliberately shut down the Bell's weapons systems to signal that they gave up. Valek would want them both alive. He'd have a use for them both, and, Gods help him, he'd have a hostage now. Emery would break any moral law in the Universe for Luca, and Morgan would know that. Look what he'd already done for her.

  “Luca, There's something you need to know.”

  ***#***

  Twenty standard minutes. That's all it took to dock the Carry Bell to the awkwardly spindly Star Cruiser, Imperial Guard One. The angular star insignia stood out in darkest black. She'd always found it appropriate. Too appropriate today.

  She and Emery had already gone to the armory to disarm and secure their weapons, so she stood on her bridge feeling about as naked as a baby on his birthday. She didn't go anywhere without her side iron.

  Emery stood with his dark head bowed, leaning on the console, with his lips pursed. He, like Luca, braced for the worst. They'd both dealt with this crowd before, and most didn't come out ahead with the High Command. That's who this was, she knew. No one else would be so invested in such a weapons program.

  They heard booted steps in the corridor before they saw their captors. Sounded to be seven or eight of them. Sure enough, six men and Valek Morgan crowded through the open hatchway. Morgan, she thought. Of all the luck.

  His reputation preceded him from Ari and Caden's dealings with him, though Luca had caught no more than a passing glance at him when he'd been aboard.

  His hair lightened to the color of wheat changed his appearance enough to make her think him older. His uniform, black with gray piping down the sides, he still kept immaculate and wrinkle free. His hair brushed boyishly across his high, autocratic brow added to the illusion of his deep-set dimples. This was a man who worked hard at looking innocent, which probably meant he was the farthest thing from it. But, anyone familiar with the reputation of the High Command would know him for the predator he was.

  “Luca Brine”. He smiled pleasantly. “You are a hard woman to track down, you know?”

  “I try”, she said despondently.

  He looked over his shoulder at one of his companions. “Search the whole ship for the children, Sergeant.” The man, also in the uniform, saluted and left. “It's merely a formality, Charles. I know you well enough to know it won't be that easy.” He chuckled and shook his finger at Emery who just stood with an unreadable expression. “Emery, Emery, I wouldn't have hurt the girl. You could have followed orders and everything would have gone on as before, no harm, no foul. You didn't have to abscond with the target. Talk about dramatic.” He said the words so good-naturedly that Luca almost missed the familiarity and the reveal in them. He'd meant to reveal this. Too bad she already knew. It might have made an impression.

  “Em?”, she laughed at the secret joke. “You know this on
e?”

  Morgan laughed. “He worked for me, My dear.”

  “Past tense”, Emery said coldly. “Lest we forget.”

  The laugh faded, to show the true face of the man for just a second. It went granite, hard and cold. “Yes, lest you forget.” The message clear; He wouldn't.

  “I'm curious.” She looked at him and somehow managed to not blink. She just needed to keep him talking, give the kids a chance. “In what capacity, Morgan? What did he do for you?”

  “Whatever I told him to, Luca. That's what a killer does.” Folding his hands behind his back, he walked to the view screen. “His last job was to bring you in.”

  As Morgan spoke, she looked quickly at Emery. His flinch was nearly imperceptible, but he flinched. She crossed her arms defensively, needing something between her and that hard reality. She hadn't had a chance to think about much beyond surviving, but she'd have come to it eventually. “You were supposed to deliver me”, she said.

  “You didn't”, she smiled brightly. The enormity of what he'd done sank in suddenly. He hadn't just defied the spymaster who gloated over him now. He'd defied king and country. He'd run with her, stolen her in effect from the ones who saw her as an asset. He'd signed his own death warrant. For her. He met her eyes a moment, saw her smile and returned it.

  “So, you're the one who likes to give kids diseases. That's got to be a bitch on the resume.”

  His attention suddenly focused on her, regret or something mocking it, in his eyes. “No”, he whispered softly. “Not like, Luca. No one regrets this necessity more than I.”

  He shook his head. “You won't believe me, but I'm glad you survived, Luca.”

  Emery snorted. “Clearly, you have a use for her still.”

  “I have a use for everyone. Even your death will serve my purpose, Charles. Don't forget that.”

  She met Emery's sad eyes, but neither of them said anything. They'd ridden this thing as far as they could, and some of it had been worth it, she thought. She cocked her head at him and grinned a little, so he'd see that, would know she'd do it again if it meant being with him even for a little while. He smiled sadly back.

  She made a small noise of appreciation as she raked Emery's body with her gaze one more time. “I certainly hope you aren't one of those sadistic asses who talks his victims to death, are you?” She asked it without looking at the other man.

  Amused, he asked. “Are you in that much of a hurry?”

  “This may come as a shock, but I'd rather get on with my afterlife than sit here listening to a meglomaniacal confession. I don't care why you're evil.”

  The man looked genuinely surprised. “That's a rather simplistic view, is it not?”

  “Not everything's as simple as you are”, she said. Luca kept her eyes on Emery. What she saw on his face, nearly broke her a bit with the could have beens. He looked so damn proud.

  They were going to face this together. Whatever came.

  ***#***

  If he lived to be a hundred, which was at this point highly unlikely, Emery would never forget that hour waiting for the ship to be searched. When the sergeant finally returned to tell them the kids weren't here, Valek smiled unworried.

  “There are few places you could have stopped. We'll find them with some of the lady's acquaintances no doubt.” Valek stood and straightened his uniform jacket with both hands. “Now, if you don't mind, we'll go over to my ship and have a chat in private.”

  “So, it's to be torture then?” Luca said in a deadpan voice.

  “No, merely a chat about what we do now, where we go from here.”

  “Torture.” She sighed at Emery, forcing him to work hard for a neutral expression.

  “Emery, I'm not sure you've been the best influence on this girl.”

  “She was like this when I got here. Don't blame me.” He smiled when she tapped his shoulder with her fist. He stopped smiling when he noticed Morgan giving them his Cheshire cat grin. He knew that look, and he didn't like it. The man had a plan for them both, even if he implied he didn't.

  “The chemistry between the two of you is unbelievable, very rare.” He said this as they made their way down two decks to the docking tube. Emery had felt the clamps engage a while ago, so the intent was to tow the Carry Bell, not destroy her. That also suggested he had plans that included both of them.

  Beyond the wide tubes that echoed as they made their way across the magplating, Morgan's ship waited. His docking tube was an expensive testament to his position in the pecking order. It had atmosphere and environmental controls, requiring no suits and magplating floors. You only had to fix the addition to any shoe like skis and walk across without gravity, slowly. Most ships needed envirosuits to do a ship to ship dock.

  On the other side, his ship looked like a luxury liner. There were statuettes and art pieces surrounded by comfortable seating. He made a magnanimous gesture toward some double doors, as though they were honored guests. Emery almost rolled his eyes at him.

  The crew deck spread out before them. In the center stretched a mess seating about fifty, double the compliment on the Bell. It was spacious and pristine. Morgan led them out another exit and into a corridor.

  “My office is just through here.”

  They looked at each other. Apparently, he was actually taking them for a private chat. Emery braced himself. This could mean anything, and most of it wouldn't be good for them.

  They entered a modern, sleek office that probably opened on the Captain's quarters. More art adorned the walls, the corners, anywhere the man could make it fit. “Please, have a seat. Would you like a drink?”

  They both refused. Luca kept it a little more polite than he did.

  “Let's just cut to it, Morgan. What do you want?”

  Morgan poured himself a drink at a bar in the back of the room, but appeared completely unruffled. “I've always appreciated your forthcoming nature, Charles. It made you a good agent.”

  He grunted. “Yeah, until it didn't”, Emery said.

  “There is that”, he said amused. “Honesty can be a fault and a virtue.”

  Emery didn't say anything else. He just took a seat on a ridiculously over stuffed loveseat. He gestured to Luca to sit beside him. “He already knows. Might as well enjoy any time we have left.” It was a liberating thought.

  Up until now, they'd been on a leash of sorts. Not wanting anyone to guess what they felt for each other and afraid to give in to it, they'd avoided each other's feelings. Emery swung an arm over her shoulders and kneaded her arm where his hand fell. There was nothing to be gained by hiding it now, and he'd begun to suspect that Morgan intended to profit from their feelings, rather than punish Emery for turning on him.

  Valek Morgan stood a moment with his drink in his hand, then sidled around the chair across from the two of them and sat watching them. “You are a damn good operative, Charles. I would hate to lose you. This is a hard business.” He sighed. “It's possible to misread where the line is for an agent. I misread you. Besides the fact that she's so clearly your type, I pushed you a bridge too far.”

  He felt Luca shake her head, more than saw it. “Let me get this straight. You're apologizing not for asking him to kill me, but for asking him to kill me?”

  He raised a long, graceful finger. “There was no terminate order, until you were a flight risk.”

  “Oh, well, that's all right then!” She threw up a hand. Emery tangled his hand in her mop of hair and kissed the side of her head with a smile peeking through.

  “I'm glad you find this so amusing, Charles”.

  Emery found her amusing, never this, but he didn't bother to explain. “The hole you're in with us is deep and wide. What is it you're offering?”

  “For the two of you to carry on as you've been doing. That's all.”

  “Only working for you, am I right?”

  He'd crossed a leg and rested his hand on it. Morgan nodded at Emery. “I know your limits now. I can work within them.”

  A s
trangled sound emerged from Luca. She was barely holding her temper back, and that could be dangerous. He rubbed her shoulder with his hand.

  “You gave me a plague! Let's talk about your limits, shall we?”

  Valek watched his amber booze as he swirled it around in the glass. “That's as may be. It's also what, unfortunately, necessitates your taking my offer.”

  “It was a rogue operation, wasn't it?”

  He sighed again. “It wasn't mine to start with. I was read into it by my superior. He was retired five years ago.”

  “He was exploded five years ago.”

  “This wasn't his only rogue operation”, Valek said tiredly. “The ones with no real strategic value I've tried to shut down. Others I've tried to clean up.”

  “Please, tell me that the plague operation made your list of shutting down.”

  He shook his head, wringing another sound of protest from Luca.

  “If you knew what we might be facing very soon....”

  “What?”, she asked angrily. “What could we be facing that is worse than wiping out all life as we know it?”

  “Something that will wipe out all life as we know it.”

  “That's not dramatic at all. What is it?”

  “We believe that a non-human race exists in the rim systems beyond the SCRs.”

  “Beyond the relays?” Emery asked. “Do you realize how that sounds?”

  “I know how it sounds, but it's imperative that we stabilize the empire.” He spoke with fervent conviction. “The Carnes Syndicate is in our way.”

  “I was in your way. Em was in your way. Is anybody not in your way?”

  Morgan slammed his now empty glass onto the hard stone of the table. “Empire does not preserve itself. I make no apologies for what I've done to preserve our way of life.”

  “Not mine, you didn't. Living on the blood of others who didn't know they were sacrifices is no way of life. And those were my family you tried to erase!”

  “Charles, surely you see the issue here. We have to stop the rebellious elements before this new enemy manages to get here and wipe us all out.”