by Hayes, Susan
As if summoned by his thoughts, a pair of Tarins appeared a few feet in front of them. The men were well over seven feet tall, and as they turned to admire Sonja with their cold, black eyes, Trevar was reminded of the sharks that used to swim up to his father’s fishing boat to feast on the catch as it was pulled on board. He pulled Sonja closer to his side, then bent down to brush a kiss to the top of her head, his eyes never leaving the Tarin as they passed.
“That’s a Tarin, huh?” Sonja asked a few seconds later, her voice hushed.
“Yeah. Some of them are decent enough, some of them…not so much. You stick close to us, and everything will be fine. Most of the folks here are just like us, looking to buy, sell, or find something to pass the time.”
And if any of them try to pass time with Sonja, I’m going to do them bodily harm. She’s ours.
The thought was accompanied by a surge of possessiveness so strong it stunned him. Well, if he had any doubts before, they were gone now. He wasn’t ready to call it love, not yet, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to let anyone take Sonja away from them, either. If she wanted him, truly wanted him for who he was and not simply because he could protect her, then he’d claim her, consequences be damned.
****
Sonja was rather proud of the fact that she managed to accomplish all her shopping with enough time left over for them to carry everything back to the ship before going for dinner. She now had everything she needed: clothes, personal items, even a new wrist unit to replace the one she’d had to leave behind. Her off-world bank account was intact, and as far as she’d been able to see, it remained undetected and untouched. She had been half afraid that her parents had somehow tracked it down and frozen it, despite the fact that she was paying the hefty bank security fees to ensure that didn’t happen.
It had been a lot of fun shopping with her two men, and there were a number of items she’d bought based entirely on their reaction when she’d modeled them. After days of wearing nothing but oversized sweaters and socks she could pull up to her knees, it was a little strange to be back in form fitting clothes and proper footwear.
The three of them arrived at Kaspar’s before their reservation time, and they were seated at the bar to wait for their table. Inside, the walls had been draped in thick, dark fabrics that hid the plain gray walls while absorbing sound. The flooring was as plush as the wall hangings, and together they created an atmosphere of subdued elegance. After the whirl and chaos of the crowds outside, it was a welcome change. The bar was crafted of well-polished wood, but it couldn’t have come from any tree on Earth. The entire thing was pale green, the rings and knots marked in shades of emerald and jade. Even more startling was the revelation that there were plants everywhere, some familiar, many completely unknown to her. It made Sonja realize that she hadn’t actually seen any plants or even natural building materials since setting foot on the Arca.
Trevar laid a hand on the bar, smoothing his palm along the satiny surface. “Beautiful, isn’t it? The tree this was made from only grows on Helios.”
“How could you possibly know that?” she asked, stroking her fingertips over the wood.
“Because, sweetheart. We’re the ones who brought it here, one piece at a time,” Deke answered as he captured her hand with his, threading their fingers together on the bar top.
“The Alliance lets private citizens use their transports?”
Trevar chimed in again. “Not exactly, though if you have enough money, you could convince them of damned near anything. No, this we brought over as a side deal. We get a personal freight allowance, so we used it to transport the wood here. It took a few months, but in the end, Kaspar got his furniture, and we got paid very nicely for our trouble.”
“You mean you robbed Kaspar blind, you space pirate,” someone said, his voice coming from behind them and she spun around to see who it was. There was a man standing a few feet away, his hands at his sides and a welcoming smile on his face. He had golden skin, dark blond hair tied back at the nape of his neck, and amber eyes with oddly elongated pupils, like a cat’s.
He must be one of the Helios.
“Theo! If I robbed him blind, how is it that this place looks more incredible every time we come here? One of these times we’re going to walk in here and find everything made from gold and diamonds.” Trevar grinned at the new arrival and they clasped hands.
“We all have our talents, my friend. Yours is for creative larceny, Kaspar’s is for making money appear out of thin air, and my talents are wild, varied and far too many to list,” Theo turned his dazzling eyes toward Sonja, and she could have sworn she saw his nostrils flare as if he were scenting the air. “One of my talents is a perfect memory for beautiful faces, and yours is not familiar.”
Deke’s hand tightened around Sonja’s fingers possessively. “Careful, Theo. She’s spoken for.”
The big man grinned and tapped the side of his nose. “That’s alright, she’s not the one.”
“Like that’s ever stopped you before,” Trevar grumbled, then introduced Sonja, using the name they’d agreed upon before leaving the ship. “Theo, meet Sonja Kitts. Sonja, this is Theo Jeffries, he’s the station’s chief engineer. Sonja’s our passenger on this trip.”
“Your passenger? You have my sympathies, Sonja. A freighter is no place for a lovely woman like yourself. If you wished, you could stay here a few days, see the sights, and I could see you booked onto something less…rusty.”
“It’s nice of you to offer, but I’m very happy with my transportation. It was a last minute thing, and they were very kind to agree to take me along,” Sonja said.
“Right. And the fact you’re gorgeous had nothing to do with it.” He winked at her.
“Quit flirting with our girl or I’ll give Gavin a call and tell him he needs to come fetch your fuzzy ass off the floor,” Deke muttered, and Theo’s grinned widened. “Yours, plural? Is that the sound of the universe imploding I can hear? I thought you were dedicated to your bachelorhood, Trevar?”
“Plans change.”
“So it would seem.” Theo took another step toward her and all the humor melted from his expression as he lowered his voice. “Gavin sent me to check up on the three of you. There’s been a report making the rounds of all the stations and outposts, instructing security to be on the lookout for a missing Alliance female, one of the fertile ones. Name’s Sonja Grekov. There’s a big reward being offered by her family for her return. You know that kind of thing brings out the scum of the galaxy looking to make some fast credits.”
Sonja’s heart skipped a beat. There was a bulletin out for her? Shit. That was going to complicate things.
“And why would that concern us?” Trevar asked.
Theo scrubbed a hand through his tawny mane of hair and sighed. “Because someone’s already claimed to have spotted a woman with a scroll tattoo on the station. They made the report just a short while ago, looking to cash in on the reward. They claim the Alliance’s missing scroll was seen on board the Arca. Naked and having sex with you, Deacon.”
“Fuck. Me,” Deke groaned.
“No, as I recall, you were fucking me,” Sonja’s cheeks were on fire and she wanted to hide her face in her hands, but this wasn’t the time for it. She could freak out later, once they were safely on their way again.
“I leave you two alone for two damned hours…” Trevar said and then cut off any responses with a wave of his hand and turned to Theo. “So, now what?”
“Now, I suggest you two get your lady off this station before Gavin has to file a report. He’s really busy at the moment, but he wanted me to find you and let you know that he can’t stay busy for much longer, if you get my meaning.” He winked at Sonja. “Of course, if I thought the lady was in some kind of trouble, she wouldn’t be going back to the Arca with you. I can see, though, that she’s just fine.”
“More than fine.” She slipped a hand over Trevar’s and tugged him closer to her.
“Thank you. And than
k Gavin for being…busy. Will you apologize to Kaspar for us? We’re not going to make it for dinner.” Deke said, getting to his feet.
“You’re welcome. Next time you’re back this way, you can pay us back in drinks. Lots of them.” Theo clapped both men on the shoulder, and then smiled at Sonja again. “Good luck. If you’re throwing your lot in with these two, you’re going to need it.”
With that, he turned on his heel and walked away, leaving the three of them staring at each other.
“We have to go, kitten. Now.” Trevar tugged at Sonja’s hand for emphasis, but she didn’t move from her seat. She needed a few minutes to test the timelines and make sure they made it back to the ship.
“We’ll go, but not yet.” Sonja tightened her grip on both men and took in a quick breath. “I need to…I…there’s this thing I can do, and I need to do it before we go.”
They gave her nearly identical looks of pure confusion, brows up and mouths open as if they were both about to say something, but neither of them spoke for a second or two.
“What are you going to do?” Deke finally asked.
“Check the immediate timelines to make sure we don’t turn down the wrong corridor and get ourselves caught on the way back to the ship.” She blurted it out in a frantic whisper.
“You can do that? You’re a fucking precog?” Trevar was staring at her with fascination.
“I’m only a Class-B, but yes, I am. And if you two can give me a moment of quiet, I can find us the safest way back. I can’t see very far ahead, but it should be enough.”
Deke couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Sonja was a precog? Why hadn’t she told them? When they got back to the ship, she was going to have to tell them everything. Trevar was going to have to fess up to his knack of reading emotions, too. If they were really going to make a go of this, then there couldn’t be any secrets…or schemes, he amended to himself as he saw a familiar grin creep across Trevar’s face. He knew that look. It invariably meant Trevar had a great idea that was going to land them all in trouble.
Again.
“How long do you need?” Deke asked, keeping hold of her hand.
“Two minutes.”
“You’ve got them,” Trevar said, taking up a stance so that he was leaning against the bar. To everyone else, he looked like he was simply relaxing, but he kept an eye on the door as he began typing commands into his wrist unit. Deke didn’t have to see the screen to know that Trevar was remotely activating Arca’s highest security protocols and telling the AI to prep the ship for launch. By the time they got back, everything would be ready and waiting.
Deke kept his attention on Sonja, but she wasn’t paying any attention to him, or anything else for that matter. Her eyes were closed, and her expression was completely blank. She looked younger this way, and far more delicate. Protective instincts surged through him, along with a sense of possession so powerful it took him by surprise. Sonja had unlocked something deep inside him, a part of him that Deke had thought long since dead and gone. He hadn’t allowed himself to care for anyone after his mother had taken him to be tested, and then walked away, leaving him terrified and alone with strangers. He’d watched her leave, and she hadn’t even looked back.
Not once.
Sonja came back to herself so quickly it was almost spooky. One second, she wasn’t there, the next her face was animated again and her eyes flew open. “We have to go! The ones who saw me are coming this way. There are four of them, and they think they’re going to catch us in here.”
Deke nodded and Trevar shoved himself away from the bar. “How the fuck do they know where we are? No, forget I asked, that’s not important right now. Which way to we go?”
“Out the main doors, turn left, then down the first stairs we find.”
“The elevators would be faster.”
“They have a friend hanging around on the main floor, watching the elevators. We have to take the stairs.”
“You’re just full of surprises.” Trevar flashed her a grin and took her hand. Deke still had hold of her other one and he knew damned well that neither of them had any intention of letting go of their woman. Not now, or ever.
Trevar felt an itch at the back of his neck, like someone was watching them. He knew that it was only his imagination, but it set his teeth on edge. It was going to be a very long walk back to the ship. He forced himself to keep his pace slow and casual, despite wanting to scoop Sonja into his arms and make a run for it. They should have considered the possibility that her family would have posted a reward. It just never occurred to him that they’d take the search off-world so quickly. After all, if they knew she was aboard their freighter the Alliance would have simply ordered them to hand her over.
Right before they tossed him and Deke’s asses in a Martian cell.
They made it to the stairs, and he chanced a brief look back. Sure enough, four determined looking men were heading straight for Kaspar’s. Sonja had been right. That gave him some comfort, since she had also predicted that they would get back to the ship. What happened after that…well…it looked like they were about to run out of options.
The rest of the journey was made in tense silence that was only broken by Sonja’s softly spoken directions. They avoided the corridors that lead directly to their ship, taking a roundabout route that took a few minutes longer. It wasn’t until they were inside the airlock, the doors sealed behind them, that they all sighed with relief.
“Nice job, kitten. That’s a hell of a gift you have. I don’t suppose you’ve ever considered hitting a casino with that talent?”
“And here we go,” Deke said, shooting him a dirty look.
“What? Do you have any idea how fast we could have our down payment if Sonja is willing to do a little wandering through the time stream?”
“That would be cheating,” she said, but her eyes gleamed with mischief even so.
That’s my girl.
“We can talk about this after I get us the hell out of Dodge. Deke, can you sync with the Arca and maybe find a way to make sure she doesn’t communicate with any Alliance vessel or outpost until we’re clear? I know I sound paranoid, but we have to assume the outpost got that alert, and if our voyeurs say anything to them…”
“I…uh…already blocked all but the most urgent incoming messages. What we can’t see, we don’t have to respond to, right? I’ll make sure the AI doesn’t get chatty with anyone without our direct orders,” Deke said.
“You blocked…no, I don’t want to know. I’m thrilled to hear I’m finally starting to rub off on you, kid. Nice job.”
“Congratulate me later, after we figure out what the fuck we’re going to do next,” Deke said, heading to the nearest terminal.
Trevar tugged on Sonja’s hand. “You’re with me, kitten. There’s no way I’m letting you out of my sight again, not after what happened the last time.”
“I have no idea how they could see anything at that distance,” she muttered as he towed her along behind him.
“Any visual recorder with a zoom feature would’ve worked. No sense worrying about how it happened. Chalk it up to Murphy’s Law and move on, which is what we need to be doing.”
“I am sorry, though,” Sonja said, her normally lilting voice somber.
“Don’t be. I’m not.” He stopped and drew her into his arms with a sharp tug. “This makes things simple. You’re never going to get away from your parents, not after this. So you’re either going to have to go back home, or you can stay here with us, and we’ll fight like hell to keep you.”
He kissed her, cutting off any response she might have made. They didn’t have time to discuss it right now. Later, he’d have to see if he couldn’t pull together something a little more romantic and a lot less practical.
But first, he had to get them out of here.
***
CHAPTER TEN
All three of them stayed in the cockpit, sitting in tense silence until the jump-engines engaged and they were safely awa
y. Sonja spent the time curled up in Deke’s lap, watching the station and the extraordinary view of the planet beneath it growing smaller and smaller. Once they were clear, Deke lifted her out of his lap and brushed a slow kiss to her lips before settling her back down in his newly abdicated seat.
“I’m going to make us some dinner. It won’t come close to what we missed out on at Kaspar’s, but it’ll have to do.”
“Do you need any help?” she asked.
“It’s best no one witness the carnage that ensues when he cooks,” Trevar said and then gave Deke an intent look that was met with a nod.
“You stay here and keep Trevar company. I won’t be long.”
Once Deke was gone, Trevar leaned back in his chair and patted his lap. “Come here.”
“Is this the part where you give me grief for not mentioning the whole ‘precog’ thing before tonight?” she asked, moving to perch on the edge of her seat.
“No, this is the part where I want you in my arms. Now get your ass over here. You and I have a few things to talk about before Deke gets finished making dinner.” He held out his hand to her, one finger crooked. “Don’t make me come over there and fetch you, kitten.”
She loved it when he used that tone of voice. Arrogant, commanding, with just a hint of mischief. She was wet almost instantly, her breasts suddenly aching with the need to be touched and her heart racing as fast as the ship that carried them between the stars. She was in his lap a few seconds later, her arms around his neck as she tried to get herself comfortably settled.
“Any more wiggling about and I’m going to be too fucking turned on to do any talking at all,” he warned her.
“Maybe that’s my plan.”
“I like the way you think.” He started unbraiding her hair as he spoke, his fingers brushing over her taut nipples every few seconds.
