The path broke through the trees a few moments later, revealing the large tents and open pathways of the rescue camp, as well as the anxious faces of the Lumian children. But none of them moved. Had Reynolds and Byrnes told the kids to stay put?
A quick look at the children’s faces gave the answer. They were having trouble processing what they were seeing. In their recent experience, their parents were Necri—dark, crippled, filthy creatures living stunted lives of continual pain. The clean and mostly-upright men and women who were walking toward them would appear, by comparison, like strangers.
A shout rang out. A dark-haired woman pushed forward, stumbling in the sand as she called out what had to be a child’s name. An answering cry broke from the line of kids. A little girl of about six raced across the open space and launched into her mother’s arms, knocking them both to the ground.
It was the small stone that started an avalanche. More cries echoed from both sides as children and adults moved forward, some with the same zeal as the little girl and her mother, others with much more care and even shyness, as though they were meeting for the first time.
Aurora fell back to the edge of the clearing as tears filled her vision. The fierce blend of relief, sadness and joy that swept out from the Lumians overwhelmed her exhausted mind and body, the force of it so strong it triggered physical pain.
She staggered, her legs unsteady as she struggled to absorb the emotions of three hundred tortured souls. As her knees buckled, she reached out to catch herself. But a gentle hand caught her, instead.
Mya stood by her side, her right hand wrapped firmly around Aurora’s outstretched arm as her left hand caught her about the shoulders, lowering her to her knees. Mya knelt beside her, her healing field slowly pushing back the incoming tide, allowing Aurora’s thoughts and feelings to regain a foothold against the onslaught.
“I’ve got you.” Mya maintained the physical connection as she gazed at the scene unfolding before them, her own eyes glistening.
Aurora couldn’t think. Couldn’t move. Couldn’t do anything but stare at the familiar features of her childhood friend.
Mya turned her head, a sad smile tipping the corners of her mouth. “It’s going to be okay, Sahzade.”
She surrendered. With a sob wrenched from the depths of her soul, she turned into Mya’s arms and let the world crumble around her.
53
Cade scanned his notes one more time, making sure he hadn’t missed any important details. The temporary pilot the Council had sent would certainly be competent, but this ship had a lot more quirks than a typical Fleet vessel. If he could save someone unnecessary stress, he was all for it. And he had another motivation for delaying. The longer he fiddled with his notes, the longer he could put off heading to the Lumian camp on the other side of the island.
Reynolds and the security detail from the Rescue Corps had returned early that morning from their trip to the Gaian forest to recover the bodies of the Setarips and the dead Necri. Aurora had arranged for the Necri to be turned over to the Lumians for a proper funeral ceremony, which would take place the following evening.
Mya had already examined the bodies of the Setarips and confirmed they were from the Etah faction. The security team would be delivering them to the ship, where they would be placed in storage along with the other two from the Necri cell bay. Reynolds would stay with the RC team to guard the ship until the temporary crew arrived. With Reynolds on site, his presence was no longer required.
That left him with one place to go. He grimaced. He didn’t have any illusions that the next few days would be a picnic, since he’d be in forced proximity with Aurora…and Jonarel Clarek. After what had occurred with Aurora on the bridge, Cade wasn’t sure spending time with her was wise, especially with the overprotective Kraed watching them. Not that he had a choice.
His comband vibrated. “Yes?”
“The security team has arrived,” Drew said. “Are you ready to head over to the camp?”
No. But he’d run out of excuses. “I’ll be down in five.”
“We’ll wait for you.”
Clarek had remained onboard so he and Drew could complete a survey of the ship’s engine systems. He’d be waiting with her in the bay. As Cade walked down the corridor, he focused on keeping his expression neutral. A lot had happened since his last interaction with Clarek, and he didn’t know what to expect from him. But he’d be damned if he’d give the Kraed a reason to pick a fight.
Voices drifted through the doorway as he entered. Drew, Clarek, Reynolds and five Rescue Corps personnel stood in a loose cluster inside the bay. Night still reigned outside, the row of lights that led to the camp casting a friendly glow on the sand.
“Commander.” Reynolds walked toward him, a rare smile softening the planes of her face. “It’s good to see you, sir.”
He returned the smile. “You too. How are the kids doing?”
She shrugged. “As well as can be expected considering what they’ve gone through. But getting them back together with their parents was important. They needed that.”
“I’ll bet.” He’d guessed it would be an emotional scene, and from the tone of Reynolds’s voice, it had been. He was glad he’d missed it. He glanced at Clarek. “Everything set in engineering?”
The Kraed nodded, his expression neither hostile nor friendly. “We left notes for the incoming team. And Bella did a wonderful job on the patch. They should not encounter any problems.”
Bella now, was it? Apparently a friendship had developed between the two.
Drew beamed. “It was a team effort. I couldn’t have asked for a better partner.” She smiled at Clarek with obvious affection.
Cade’s jaw clenched. It was illogical to get angry because a member of his team liked the Kraed, especially since Clarek knew his job and was likely to earn their respect. The rest of his team didn’t have Cade’s personal reasons for disliking the male. But it still irked him.
“Good.” He turned to Reynolds. “The ship is yours. Gonzo will notify you when the Argo arrives.” Gonzalez had been more than willing to stay on the Starhawke as the interim security chief until the Argo arrived with the transport crew, at which point he’d catch a ride down to the surface. Cade motioned to Drew. “Ready?”
“You bet.”
They walked down the ramp and onto the sand. Thankfully, Drew kept the journey from being filled with uncomfortable silence. She described all of the strange things she and Clarek had discovered while working on the engine repairs. Clearly the cobbled-together technology was not limited to the bridge.
He caught sight of their destination, a collection of tents in a clearing. Shadows moved inside, indicating they weren’t the only ones up and about this early in the morning. Clarek and Drew headed toward the open tent flap, but he hung back, glancing at his comband. He had a couple hours until sunrise. Maybe he’d take a short walk down to the beach before settling in. It might clear his mind and help him sleep.
He followed a narrow trail that led through the trees, the sound of the surf calling him. When he left the cover of the foliage, an expanse of pristine sand greeted him. The low-lying moon had just begun to dip below the horizon, its reflected glow creating a ribbon of light on the water. A lone figure stood at the edge, her body cast in perfect silhouette. Aurora.
Should he leave? But something about her posture—the straightness of her back and the tilt of her head—made him stop. When he’d seen her on the bridge, she’d looked whipped. But as she stood with her feet planted on the wet sand and her face lifted to the breeze, she was the picture of confident strength…and beauty. Oh, who was he kidding? He couldn’t leave if his life depended on it.
He slipped off his shoes and left them next to the path before closing the distance to where she stood. She didn’t turn, but her voice drifted back to him.
“Hello, Cade.”
As he stopped next to her, he realized her eyes were closed. She hadn’t seen him coming. She’d sensed him. W
as there ever going to be a day when that ability didn’t fascinate him? “Hello.”
The moonlight created a halo around her head as she turned and opened her eyes. Her hair fell in gentle waves around her shoulders. It was the first time she’d worn it down on this mission, and it made her seem more approachable. Her eyes sparkled with humor. “Fancy meeting you here.”
His brain hiccupped. Was she actually flirting with him? He fought to keep his emotions under wraps as he tested the waters. “You shouldn’t stand so close to the water, you know. Someone might mistake you for a mermaid.”
This time, his attempt at humor had the intended effect. She laughed, the lilting sound warming him in all the right places. He grinned, delighted to see her vibrancy returning.
“Now that would be fun.” She inclined her head toward the expanse of sand. “Care to take a stroll with me?”
As if he’d say no? He gestured for her to lead the way and then fell into step beside her as the waves snuck around their toes and raced back across the sand.
“Is everything set with the ship?” she asked.
He nodded. “We turned it over to Reynolds and the security team. I won’t need to go back until the Argo arrives.”
She smiled. “Whatever will you do with yourself until then.”
What indeed? “Oh, I’m sure I’ll think of something. This place has a lot to recommend it.” Including his walking companion.
“I know. It reminds me of pictures I’ve seen of Hawaii. When I was a kid, I asked my mom if we could take a vacation there, but she wasn’t interested. She said the tropics were too warm and humid for her.” She lifted her face, encouraging the breeze to ruffle the thick strands of her hair. “But this feels like heaven to me.”
His breath caught. For a moment she looked exactly as she had at eighteen, and his body responded accordingly. And that was a serious problem. The longer he stared at her, the harder it was to remember the long list of reasons why he needed to keep his distance from Aurora Hawke.
She turned, her expression puzzled. “I’m getting the strangest mix of emotions from you.”
Whoops. He wasn’t guarding his thoughts or emotions worth a damn. “What do you mean?” He hoped she didn’t catch the telltale huskiness in his voice.
“A moment ago you were relaxed and happy, but that abruptly disappeared and now I’m getting an intensity that borders on anxiety. If I didn’t know better, I’d think—”
He tried like hell to shut down his wayward emotions, but when she cut off abruptly and stared at him, he knew he’d failed miserably. She was putting it all together and coming to the inevitable conclusion.
“Cade?” She sounded a little breathless.
“Yes?” He held her gaze, determined to brave this out.
“What are you thinking?”
“The truth?”
She nodded without hesitation.
And why shouldn’t he tell her? She already knew. “All right.” He took a step closer, moving within a palm’s width as he drank in the silver light that glistened on her skin. “Right now, I’m using every iota of willpower I possess to keep my voice steady and my hands at my sides, because what I want to do is haul you into my arms and explore every millimeter of your mouth with my tongue.”
Bingo. He didn’t have to look to know her energy field had enveloped him in its embrace, even though her body hadn’t moved.
She moistened her lips. “And that would be a bad thing, right?” Her eyes had taken on a smoky quality, making her look even more like the lover he remembered, not the competent captain she’d become.
“Depends on how you look at it.”
“How do you look at it?”
He felt a tug in the vicinity of his heart. How to answer that? He reached up and traced her bottom lip with his thumb. “You are the best and worst thing that has ever happened to me.”
Her breathing changed, and she trembled as his fingers continued to explore her face. Her voice was strong, though. “Believe it or not, I understand. That pretty much describes how I think of you, too.”
“That doesn’t surprise me.” He allowed his index finger to slide up her jaw, his palm capturing the side of her face as his thumb continued to stroke her cheek. “Complications seem to follow wherever we go.”
Sadness flickered in her eyes. “I know.”
That brought him up short. He stepped back. “So we should—” He halted as she grabbed hold of his wrist, keeping his hand right where it was.
The look in her eyes intensified, as did the feeling of warmth from her energy field. “But here’s the deal. We have unfinished business, you and I. And when this mission is over, we may not get another chance to resolve it.”
He wasn’t sure where she was going with this, but he wasn’t an idiot. He’d stay right where he was and find out.
“When you left the Academy, our last moments were filled with anger and bitterness. And I thought I had come to terms with that.” She shifted closer, bringing them a hair’s breadth from contact. “But I realize now that I haven’t. All this time, I’ve been wanting a better ending, one that has joy and pleasure, not pain.”
His heart thumped erratically in his chest. Was she saying what he thought she was?
“Now we’re here together, on a beautiful beach in the moonlight, just the two of us. I couldn’t ask for a better setting. So I have a request to make.” And then she got him right where he lived as her gaze drifted to his mouth.
Thoughts he had no business thinking played leapfrog in his head. He had to clear his throat before he could get a word out. “Okay.”
“Will you please give me a proper goodbye kiss?”
No! He closed his eyes as her words registered. He was an idiot. A complete and utter moron to be exact. She wasn’t asking about the future. Hell, she wasn’t even asking about the present. No. What she wanted was a better ending to the past.
Her request would shred him. It might bring closure for her, but it would drop him into a Hell from which he might never find relief. But after what he’d done to her ten years ago, he owed her this. And he’d do it right.
He opened his eyes. She was gazing at him with worry lines forming between her brows. Those had to go. “Yes,” he whispered. “It would be my pleasure.”
Relief flashed in her eyes as the tension drained away.
She’d honestly expected him to say no. And that stung almost as much as his impending loss. He’d caused her so much pain, done so much to destroy her faith in him. But he would grab this opportunity to finally make amends. Even if it killed him.
Lifting his hand, he cradled her jaw and gazed into her eyes, watching the play of light over her features, memorizing every line. He could feel the rapid pulse in her throat, the subtle tension of anticipation beneath his fingers.
Leaning down, he allowed his breath to brush lightly over her skin, his lips hovering just out of reach as he traced up her cheek and over her forehead. He placed his first kiss in the space between her brows, allowing his lips to warm her skin and release any remaining tension there. But he didn’t linger. Instead, he continued his slow exploration, touching down again and again, seeking points of exquisite sensitivity until a soft sigh escaped her.
Then, only then, did his focus move to his final destination. The velvet sweetness of her lips brushed like butterfly wings across his mouth once, twice, before he settled in with a sigh of his own. The contact sent a charge of electricity through his entire body, upping his temperature by several degrees in a heartbeat. The intensity of the emotions that assailed him threatened to break him, but he held them back, determined to enjoy every sensation he was creating for her.
He captured the back of her head in his palm, exerting just enough pressure to bring their mouths into the perfect angle to…yes. How had he gone ten years without this?
Her energy field enveloped him, tricking his brain into believing nothing existed but the two of them in the warmth of the cocoon. And that was something el
se he’d forgotten. The energy wasn’t held back by little details like clothing. Oh no. It penetrated the fabric, stroking every millimeter of his skin while her lips settled onto his with assurance and familiarity, sending shockwaves of sensation through every cell in his body.
How far would she allow this to go? He changed the angle and swept his tongue against her bottom lip, his breath stuttering as she opened for him. Heaven. He was in heaven, and he never wanted to leave. Never.
54
She’d stepped out of hell into paradise.
The physical, mental and emotional trials of the past week blew away like dandelions as she sank into the wonder and joy of Cade’s embrace. His lips and tongue caressed hers, at once achingly familiar and yet subtly different. He’d been a gifted lover before, and the intervening years had only enhanced his skills. She’d asked for a better ending, and he was giving her more than she’d ever dreamed.
Which was precisely why this needed to end. Her body wanted more, and more she could not have—for so many reasons. She’d felt his initial reluctance, but he’d agreed to her request anyway, probably out of a sense of obligation. She’d been willing to accept that, but as the touch of his fingers and the stroke of his tongue sent rivers of heat through her, everything began to tip from deliciously wonderful to potentially painful. She wanted a positive memory to soothe the wounds of the past, not a negative one that served as a reminder of what she’d lost.
Cade had made it clear at the Academy that her abilities and non-human ancestry were not something he wanted to deal with. Now that he knew about her connection to the Lumians? He might still crave her body, but he’d have to suffer a lobotomy before he’d consider becoming a part of her life again. In his eyes, she’d be even more of a freak now than she’d been ten years ago.
But oh, how she’d miss this.
Releasing her grip on his shoulders, she slid her hands down to his chest, putting pressure on the firm muscles beneath her fingertips. She met with resistance. His lips followed hers as she shifted away from him, the back of her neck pressing into his hands as he held her in place. She pushed a little harder, breaking contact with his mouth.
The Dark of Light (Starhawke Rising Book 1) Page 25
