Cosmic Cabaret

by SFR Shooting Stars

  He smiled, kissing the pads of slender digits. “I love you, Karyna.”

  “Does this mean it’s time to start planning a wedding?” Remembering his surroundings, he glanced away from his beautiful betrothed and met his grandfather’s approving gaze. He tucked Karyna against his side, draping his arm across her shoulders. No way was he going to let her out of his sight.

  “I believe it does, Grandfather.”

  “As long as you are no longer in charge of flying anything, I’m fine with that.”

  Marqaz shifted his gaze to his captive crew, chuckling at Ja’andar’s bland appraisal. His friend rubbed his rough wrists and moved to stand behind Xerxian’s echelon guards.

  “Smart ass.” With a smirk, he turned his gaze back to his bride. “Karyna, I don’t care about standing on any ceremony.” Gingerly, he knelt before her, biting the inside of his cheek to refrain from an undignified whine. She bent down, and he shook his head. Certain that she remained on her feet, he gestured one arm toward his personal sentinel and closest friend. He stared into her beautiful green eyes and sighed.

  “Karyna Cyrnavolk, keeper of my heart; here and now, I, Marqaz Lavourne, pledge my love to you from now until the last breath leaves my body.”

  Her chin quivered, a smile more radiant than the sun curving her full lips, and she clutched her arms close to her.

  “Will you accept me as your life partner, your equal, and the father of your children?”

  Tears streamed down her face as she nodded, choking out a strained laugh. “Yes.” Her head bobbed in response. “Yes, I do.”

  A delicate weight draped over his outstretched arm, and he carefully regained his feet. To see her radiant smile, he could endure a little discomfort. Holding her gaze, he slipped the brilliant blue cloak around her shoulders. Just as he had imagined, the bold shade harmonized with her creamy coffee skin and his spirit discovered a peace the likes of which he had only ever dreamed. Leaning down, he sealed his promise with a tender kiss.

  “I love you, Karyna.”

  In the light of her angelic smile, he saw forever.

  THE END

  The Adventure Continues…

  in Spirit Fall

  If you believe in magic and love, check out Spirit Fall, the first book in The Guardians series.

  “I knew I was good, but I’ve never had a woman practically die in my arms.” His whispered words, their playful tone aside, were heavy with apprehension, bordering on outright fear.

  “Well, they’re not called la petit mort for nothing, I guess.”

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  About Tessa McFion

  Tessa McFionn is a very native Californian and has called Southern California home for most of her life, growing up in San Diego and attending college in Northern California and Orange County, only to return to San Diego to work as a teacher. Insatiably curious and imaginative, she loves to learn and discover, making her wicked knowledge of trivial facts an unwelcomed guest at many Trivial Pursuit boards.

  When not writing, she can be found at the movies or at Disneyland with her husband, as well as family, friends or anyone who wants to play at the Happiest Place on Earth. She also finds her artistic soul fed through her passions for theatre, dance and music. A proud parent of far too many high school seniors and two still living house plants, she also enjoys hockey, reading and playing Words With Friends to keep her vocabulary sharp. She is currently the treasurer of the San Diego chapter of Romance Writers of America and loves spending time working with such amazingly intelligent and creative writers.

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  Razer’s Edge

  A StarDaemon Novella

  Selene Grace Silver

  Psychic Razer pulls off the plunder of a lifetime, loses his heart in return.

  The single heist—a treasury of jewels and untraceable credits kept in a cabaret’s safe—will indefinitely fund the family’s anti-slave work. He just needs a way past the psychic-proof electronic security.

  Erotic dancer Ayanna has rebuilt her career, working hard to cover her father’s medical care. When a bold thief uses her identity bracelet to steal from her boss, jeopardizing her career and income, she’ll pursue and make him pay with his heart.

  One

  Aboard LS Quantum, traveling near Kadis, Alliance Year 2114

  Ayanna fought the mounting pressure behind her eyes. She was not going to cry and ruin all her carefully applied stage make-up. Her act was next in the line-up. She’d cry later, after the show, alone in her bed.

  “How’s his pain now?”

  “He’s resting peacefully, thanks to the credits you transferred last week. I used them for the good stuff—he’s completely pain-free at the moment, but I’ll admit we’re broke again.”

  Through the vidscreen, Luxia rubbed her face, exhaustion pulling her features into a perpetual frown for someone so young. She had been forced to grow up too fast. She pledged she’d make up every sacrifice her sister had suffered as soon as they reunited.

  Ayanna nodded, relieved at least that the most recent funds she’d sent to pay for her father’s black market medical drugs had transferred without incident. It wasn’t a sure thing, and more often than not, credits went missing somewhere during the transfer, especially now that Ozan had the colony under martial law. Changing accounts and transfer companies every couple of pay cycles made it possible to avoid their home planet’s rulers discovering the money and confiscating it.

  “I’m sending you more credits after the show,” she told Luxia. “I’ll need to know where to forward them.”

  “I’ll message you a new name and account.”

  Ayanna rolled her shoulders to shake out some of her own exhaustion, glancing briefly at the time on her bracelet. In a few moments, she needed to go onstage for her final act of the day. Most club entertainers only performed one show a day; she’d been giving two or three, with no days off, in order to set aside extra money for Luxia to join her when the time came. Her little hard-earned treasure was stored in her Quantum ID access account under her assumed stage persona, Butterfly. The only way to get to those funds was with her bracelet, which she never removed, even onstage.

  “You look thinner than the last time we spoke,” Luxia fretted over Ayanna’s appearance through the gritty, black and white image feed channeled through DUCIN, the dark underground communication interplanetary network. In response, Ayanna noted her sister’s washed out cheeks and limp hair, cropped short for her disguise as a young boy. At least Ayanna had access to chemical showers and a comfortable bed. Her sister’s situation was far more…rustic.

  “Right back at you, sis. Are you making sure to eat too?”

  Luxia rolled her eyes as annoyingly as any teenager not burdened under their troubles.

  “Yes. It won’t be much longer though, and then you’ll be free to worry about just yourself,” Luxia promised. Her increasing references to them going their separate ways after their father’s passing added another worry to Ayanna’s stress. Luxia had just turned eighteen a few days ago and their father’s life was fading away from some mysterious illness. If Luxia wanted to disappear instead of joining Ayanna, they might never see each other again. Ayanna’s heart ached. Despite all that had happened to them, the idea of being completely alone in the world shook her to the core.

  In their last conversation, Luxia had reported that their father’s illness was getting worse, with no hope for a cure; the medical professionals still on the moon had given him less than a month to live during their last checkup. Time was running out.

  Shutting down thoughts of how difficult her father’s passing would be emotionally, despite all the associated drama, Ayanna forced a smile. “I’m still going to worry about you until we’re together again.”

  “Don’t waste your energy worrying a
bout me. I’ve got solid plans in place to get out of here.” When Luxia did escape, the plan had been to reunite, but Luxia was less committed to the idea than Ayanna.

  “You working through DUCIN on a route out?”

  “Don’t want to talk about it.”

  “You’ll be careful, yes?”

  Luxia snorted. “Duh! I’m not taking any chances…well nothing too risky.”

  “After everything, we both deserve some timeout to recover. I can’t wait to get out of this career. I’ve actually set aside a little something so we can settle somewhere safe and regroup.”

  “You’ve sacrificed so much for Father and me already.” Luxia grimaced.

  “I’m not the one taking care of Father. I know what a challenge that’s been.”

  Luxia shrugged, a mask of toughness and belligerence settling over her face. Ayanna ached to see how their circumstances had changed Luxia from a promising ballerina of grace and beauty filled with lightness into a blend of street thug and swaggering thief. Even Ayanna’s six months stripping on the stage for strangers hadn’t toughened her as much.

  “It hasn’t been that bad, thanks to your transfers.” Luxia looked away. “We’ve both made sacrifices.”

  “Good goddess! Let’s stop talking like a couple of martyrs. We’ve both done what had to be done. I’m just saying that we deserve to treat ourselves to some leisure time and luxury, and I’m going to see that we get it.”

  “Thanks, big Sis. But I’m not little anymore and I’ve got my own plans.”

  Luxia was two years younger than Ayanna had been when she entered her first beauty competition with the goal of earning enough money for their family to leave the moon colony Huldra for the planet Ozan, and eventually find work in the lucrative film market. The women in their family were born beautiful, and Ayanna had wanted to exploit that good fortune. Despite Luxia’s male clothing, bound chest and cropped hair, it wouldn’t be long before someone figured out that under the grime and rough clothes, a very beautiful female hid. One, like Ayanna, who had stunning violet eyes.

  Only Ayanna had managed to escape Huldra the year before, leaving her father and sister behind, and it wasn’t because she’d achieved her goals. She’d been on the run, barely evading the sex trafficking ring that had attempted to kidnap her after the scandal in which she’d been publicly kicked out of the Ozan National Virgin Pageant. She’d been such a fool, taken in by the agency and its operator promising to make her a star. The last thing she wanted Luxia to do was end up dancing on a stage and stripping for all sort of nefarious and dangerous males across the galaxy, even if the pay was exceptional. If Ayanna was a talented dancer, her sister was an athletic genius. Before her disappearance, their mother had been one of the most beautiful dancers in the galaxy. Both girls had inherited her body and her grace, but Luxia’s talent was the kind that only came along once a millennium.

  “Don’t worry,” Luxia said, guessing at Ayanna’s thoughts, “I don’t intend to dance, much less strip, for a living. Ever. All our beauty and talent has done is destroy our lives, one way or another.”

  “Oh, Luxia…dancing is what we do, what we know, what we were made to do. I hate that you are rejecting it. I know I’m a disgrace, but there is no reason you can’t train with one of the best dance organizations in the Alliance and become a famous ballerina like our mother.”

  Luxia made a scoffing noise. “We both know what happened to Mother—it got her attacked and killed. Dancing was always your dream. I plan to put my natural abilities into something less decorative and more useful.”

  Ayanna frowned through the grainy screen at her sister. “I don’t want you to train to be a jinka.”

  “And I don’t want you stripping. So we’re even.”

  “I don’t want to strip either!” Ayanna only danced now to earn the essential credits that sustained them, keeping starvation an arm length away. She rubbed her face in frustration, forgetting about her makeup. Good thing her mask would cover most of her face. Her bracelet chimed.

  “Look, I have to go for my last show of the day. I’m on in ten. Please, please be careful. I’ll send more credits tonight. I’ll use DUCIN to contact you with the time and access for my next call.”

  “Okay. I’ll let you know if anything changes with Father.” Luxia mock saluted her as the grainy image stream faded to black.

  “Butterfly, you’re up in less than five,” Max called through the curtain of her dressing area. With a determined look at herself in the mirror, Ayanna positioned the feathered mask over her face, part of her own disguise to evade Alliance, and therefore the rulers of Huldra’s attention. Her objective, along with the credits? To make a fortune as the most famous erotic dancer in the galaxy, while keeping her true identity a secret. She added the long, concealing cape around her shoulders and stood.

  Two

  Some jobs were clearly better than others—the perks on this one promised to be extraordinary. The leggy Sagoran waitress—a real looker—leaned over far enough to expose an eyeful of her shapely breasts, plumped up by her corset as she set down Razer’s double shot of fine Dugaran Vodka, which she took her time pouring prettily over diamond-shaped ice cubes, so he had a nice long look at her attributes. He then took his time tucking a generous golden coin into her deep cleavage and gave her a slow wink.

  As she stood, she ran her gaze over his large frame appreciatively, lingering on his skull’s curling horns before moving back down to his tight leathers; she pulled the coin out of her chest, an eyebrow raising in recognition of the rare currency’s value, then reciprocated by dropping a temporary keycard with a stamped suite number on it next to the drink. He ran his gaze over her again, noticing she wore the standard banded access bracelet with its cabaret-insignia stamped medallion clasp, just like the other club employees.

  “The name’s Leesha. I’m off in two cycles,” she murmured, “if you’re interested in getting those big horns of yours polished.”

  What full-blooded male wouldn’t be? A lithe beauty like her would be a pleasure to take to bed. Or against a wall. A perfect way to shake off the residual disquiet of his last job. His brother and cousin had told him to skip this heist and return immediately after yesterday’s near disaster, but it was only one more day in his life, on the way to home base, and promised to be much easier and safer, not to mention bigger, than the last take. The potential prize here could run their operation for months. LS Quantum cabaret owner was rumored to store her voluminous credits in cold, hard untraceable jewels, which she kept in an office safe hidden deep behind the cabaret front, accessible only through the employee dressing rooms.

  If Razer released a little tension through sex, he’d be in a better place mentally to face his oversexed brother, cousin and their mates. He was definitely the odd one out when they were all safely ensconced in the family island retreat on Illysia. Plus, Razer needed one of those bracelets the Sagoran wore to access the employee areas behind the club stage.

  He picked up the server’s card, tapped the table with it and let the Sagoran see him tuck it into the inside pocket of his flight jacket. Looking pleased, she blew him a kiss. Whoever said it was bad to mix business with pleasure didn’t know how to do it right. She slinked away, her hips swaying suggestively. No point in denying himself a good time while on the job. He was his own boss. Mostly.

  Razer grinned and stretched out his long legs, relaxing his tired body into the velvet padded chair located in the ritzy cabaret lounge. From his front row seat to the right of the stage, he surveyed the packed room, scooping out exits and access points. On stage, three female aerobatic dancers were shimmying and sliding, flipping and rolling on long ropes in an elaborate display of athleticism and artistry high above the room. He wasn’t such an uncivilized clod that he couldn’t appreciate that kind of feminine beauty. Didn’t hurt that the females appeared to be near-naked.

  He sipped his drink and plotted the heist while he took in the act. This fourth job in short order was bringin
g in essential credits necessary to pay for the undercover operation his half-brother and cousin ran with their partners, freeing slaves across the Alliance. The money would cover the expenses of a huge raid planned in a month. After his half-brother and cousin saved his life and rescued his mother, it was the least he could do.

  The club’s floor was large enough to seat an audience of several hundred. A long bar ran along the far wall, with enough stools for several dozen people. Two male bartenders worked the crowd with efficiency and speed. Razer noted that the large double swing doors at the deep end of the room adjacent to the bar led to the kitchen, since that’s where the female servers disappeared and returned with large trays of food balanced over their heads.

  The stage above him dominated the room, pushing out into the club floor in a half circle, rising above the crowd to about shoulder height. A team of four body guards strolled along the narrow curving walkway between the stage and the audience. He wondered at the size of security. With another four bouncers working the exits, and probably a few more positioned backstage, it seemed the cabaret owner was a cautious individual. Maybe this job wasn’t going to be as easy as he’d hoped.

  After this heist, he was definitely taking a break. The last job had nearly ended his life, or at least his freedom. He’d escaped by docking his smaller transport on the cruise ship just as it passed Kadis, hiding in the swarm of new arrivals, a mix of private jets, planet hoppers, and commercial delivery ships. Changing his ship verification code and description was quick and easy, thanks to his brother’s AI, Astarn.

  His manifest now claimed to be delivering alternative medical goods from the Kadis moon Raksha, where indigestion and motion sickness medicines were manufactured. He’d been approved to dock without questions. Considering the size of Quantum, he couldn’t imagine anyone suffering motion sickness, so he suspected some of the food vendors didn’t follow planetary health guidelines. Fortunately for him, the cruise ship generally ignored planet politics and turned a blind eye to most illegal activity, arrest warrants or search and seizure requests.