by Viola Grace
Her career takes a sudden swing as a new assignment puts her in the path of an old partner who has never forgotten her.
Tazzy is a peacekeeper for the Nyal Imperium. Her job consists of going where they tell her and keeping the peace. Stationed on a world as liaison between local government and the imperium, she is shocked to find herself caught between two men, one she has only just met and the other she had given up for dead.
Silver is shocked to see his ex-partner on the news vids, escorting a male Companion out of a dance club. If any man is going to be running their hands over that peacekeeper, it will be him. He sets things into motion that will put her in his path, but he has to beat his own brother to her and that is no mean feat.
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Halt
Copyright © 2013 Viola Grace
ISBN: 978-1-77111-728-9
Cover art by Martine Jardin
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.
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Halt
A Terran Times Tale
By
Viola Grace
Chapter One
Tazzy settled in to the comfy couch and watched the men who worked at this establishment as they rubbed up against the women with an eye toward intimacy.
Tazzy sighed, it was her first off day since she had arrived on Decolian 12, and her co-workers had insisted that she get a feel for the local entertainment. A male Companion bar was just the thing to work the kinks out or perhaps to try a new one.
“You are enjoying yourself, yes?” Yuula blinked her wide serpentine eyes.
“I am. It is very different from what I had anticipated.” That much was completely true. She watched the men flex and strain in the gravity columns, their muscular bodies gleaming as they twisted and danced under the pressure generated by the magnetic waves.
Servers glided through the crowds on silent feet, offering refreshments to the women watching the show and bestowing light caresses as they passed the on-lookers.
It was a lot more interactive than she had anticipated, but Tazzy had a job to do, and she was going to do it.
She reclined in her chair and sipped her drink. Her target wasn’t on the floor yet, so she had time to kill. While she was technically enjoying a day off, her work as a peacekeeper never truly ended. The royal family had made it clear that retrieving one of their own would be appreciated. It had altered her choice of day-off activities in favour of seeking out the missing prince.
“I am so happy that you agreed to join me today, Commander.” Yuula was shifting sinuously in her chair in time to the music.
“I don’t know how long I am staying.”
Yuula looked at her with a piercing gaze. “Oh. He is loose again.”
“Indeed. This is the most likely location.” Tazzy sipped at her drink and shifted her thighs together slightly. It was an indicator of arousal, and it might just get her the attention of her target. As a signal, it was effective, three of the men straining for the female focus suddenly gravitated toward the VIP seating where Tazzy was sitting with Yuula.
Tazzy kept her composure as Yuula stroked, petted and caressed the males within touching distance.
The next wave of males came forward, and Tazzy sighed at the pretty image that Sollas made in his mask and little else. His pale skin camouflaged the developing musculature underneath, but he was definitely a fair match for the other dancers.
His dark sapphire gaze skimmed over the crowd, and when she lifted her fingers, tapping twice on the table, he came over with a swagger and a grin.
She gestured for him to have a seat next to her and he obliged.
He lifted her hand to his lips. “Thank you for your summons, gracious lady.”
Tazzy smiled as he made contact. “Thank you for noticing.”
Yuula blinked in surprise and turned to the ranks of young, fit men making their rounds, effectively cutting Tazzy off from the room at large.
Her Companion stroked his finger up and down the bare skin of her arm. She had deliberately worn a dress that exposed quite a bit of skin. Her target’s habits were legendary. He wouldn’t be able to resist touching, and now that he had, he was hers.
She smiled and threaded his fingers with hers. “It is time to leave, Sollas.”
He jerked back with wide eyes; violet crept in behind the mask, making his gaze more vivid. “How do you know my name?”
“I have sacrificed a day off to find you. While the visuals have been very entertaining, this is not my normal scenery. Shall we?”
Tazzy rose to her feet and held her hand out to him, using the chemical bond that he had initiated with his kiss on her skin to pull him with her. The tiny loincloth was made of a deep blue fabric with a shimmer that complimented his eyes and the sweep of his hair.
“Management won’t let you take me.” He stumbled along with her, his arm around her shoulders as they walked.
“They have already been given their orders. You will be given a robe, and we will simply leave via the same entrance I arrived at. No more playing masquerade for you, Your Highness.”
“You are going to leave with me as if I was a common whore?” He was trying to bristle with indignation, but his continuing contact with her skin was beginning to give him a raging erection.
“If you want to play the whore, why would you object to my treating you like one?”
They left the performance area, past the semi-private couches occupied with a number of very personal activities, and when they reached the entryway, a cloak was thrown around Sollas, and his features were concealed in the depths of his hood.
Tazzy was on her own to face any media members who cared to wait outside. A royal peacekeeper commander with a taste for male Companions was bound to be news, but far less news than a prince who liked to act as a male Companion for any woman willing to pay.
She linked her arm with his and pasted a fatuous expression on her features. She looked up at him and pretended that she was seeing her ex-partner. It wasn’t too much of a stretch. Arkenor had also been from Decolian 12. His navy blue- and silver-banded hair had reached his hips, and she had always had to stifle the urge to touch it.
Once outside, a few flashes of light and a request for information were all that were called out. In three minutes, Tazzy was in her personal conveyance and Sollas was sitting next to her, confused and sullen.
“You are new to the palace, aren’t you?” He sat with his arms crossed over his well-developed chest.
“I am. It made me the best bet to catch you off guard, so to speak. You are very predictable.” She smiled.
“You do know I am not going to forgive or forget this.”
“That is entirely likely. Fortunately, I don’t work for you; I am here working for the imperium.”
He blinked, “You are an imperial officer?”
“I am.”
“Where was your last posting?”
That was an odd question. “Miracor. I was a peacekeeper there.”
Sollas smirked. “I bet you were. Did you meet any of my kind there?”
“Obnoxious princes with too many active hormones and too little impulse control? No. I don’t think so.” She smiled and keyed in the security code to get them to the private landing site.
Once they were down, he was the royal guard’s problem. She settled the skiff down next to the Guardian transport and gleefully handed his highness over to his personal guard.
Sollas paused and turned in place, extending his hand to hers.
Etiquette demanded that she extend her own hand, so she did. His sudden tug on her limb pulled her to him sharply, and his kiss did not land on her hand. He held her to him tightly as he ravaged her lips.
For a moment, she allowed herself the almost-but-not-quite feeling of being in the arms of the man she really wanted.
Sollas pulled away, and he licked his lips. “A pity. We could have had such fun this afternoon.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Go and put some pants on. There is a formal dinner for the Guardians this evening. You need to be presentable.”
He gave her a jaunty salute and swaggered off with his guard, pausing twice to see if she was looking. Unfortunately, she was.
Chapter Two
“In the news this afternoon, the newest member of the imperial peacekeeping force was enjoying her day off at the Twisted Limbs. She is shown here in the company of one of the Companions from within, and it seems that she was taking him home for some local research. Commander Rikkat will definitely be a woman to watch.”
Silver watched the broadcast on his wrist com, and he seethed internally. “Why the hell is she here?”
“Who, Silver?” Quell took a book off the shelves and started to read.
Silver screwed up his face in a scowl. “My ex-partner. How did she get transferred to Decolian 12 of all places?”
Flick laughed from his space by the window. “Look it up, you have access to all the records.”
Silver sighed and pulled out the data pad from his kit. With a few strokes, he brought up Commander Rikkat’s file, and from there, it was only a few touches before he ran into a solid data roadblock. “Uh, guys. Her file is locked.”
Quell was at his side in an instant. “What do you mean?”
“I mean that there is no record of her activities beyond the transfer to Decolian 12. The remainder of her file has been expunged.” He handed the data pad over to his commanding officer.
Quell used his clearances, and still, he was unable to hack through to Commander Rikkat’s life before her current posting. “What the hell? You said she was your ex-partner?”
“Yes, she is the one I talk about.” Silver talked about her, dreamed about her and wanted her with every fibre of his being, but his situation as a Guardian meant that there was no way for them to be together. Casual encounters were as close as he got to any real relationships.
A knock at the door brought them around to face it.
Silver inclined his head to the major domo of the Decolian royal family. The slight nod from Shusain was all that he needed to feel at home once again.
He had been posted here for two years, and this was the first time that he had made it back into the palace during full light. The formal dinner meant that he was in his best dress uniform, the fabric mask tight across his face. Quell and Flick were in their own versions of the same.
“The royal family awaits, Guardians.” Shusain inclined his head to them as a group.
Silver nodded with one final glance at his wrist display. Where the hell had she gotten that dress and why had she worn it to a Companion bar?
* * * *
Tazzy sat in the window seat of her quarters and read quietly. This was how she had wanted to spend her day, not sitting in a Companion bar and waiting for a brat to show himself.
A chime brought her out of her Decolian history book. “Yes?”
The door to her quarters opened, and the royal family’s major domo entered. “Good afternoon, Commander Rikkat. Your presence is requested at dinner.”
Tazzy blinked. “You are joking, Shusain.”
“I never joke about formality, Commander. You have twenty minutes to prepare. I will return for you then.”
He left her, and she had only one thing on her mind, What am I going to wear?
Twenty minutes later, she was ready in her Decolian 12 imperial peacekeeper formal uniform—a tight bodysuit with an ankle-length skirt slit up the sides to each hip. Snug boots and her hair braided tightly into a cord completed the outfit. Her rank insignias were on her shoulders and outer thighs.
Shusain nodded his approval and gestured for her to follow him.
Tazzy chuckled and walked the halls with her boots clicking on the stone tiles. “Any idea as to why I was summoned?”
“They needed an eighth for dinner, and Prince Sollas offered your name.”
Tazzy snorted. “Lovely. You know that I am going to put in for another free day.”
“Good luck with that. I know you have only been here for a week, but this place is surprisingly active. Keeping on top of the royal family is a full-time job.”
“How long have you been doing it?”
“Fifty-three years. Each year has had its own challenges, but I would not trade them for anything.”
Tazzy chuckled, and as they approached the formal dining room, she whispered, “When is the last time you had a day off?”
He grinned as the huge double doors opened. “Fifty-four years ago.”
Sollas came to greet her immediately. He seemed rather disappointed. “You are still lovely, but I preferred your previous clothing.”
“Formal dinners are formal dinners, Your Highness. This is my formal uniform.” She extended her hand, and he kissed the back of her knuckles, flicking them with his tongue.
The three Guardians on the far side of the room drifted over, and Sollas tucked her arm around his forearm, making the introductions.
Quell was the same species as Yuula. His serpentine facial expression was polite and friendly. “Pleased to meet you, Peacekeeper.”
“And you as well, Guardian.”
Flick was the closest thing to a seven-foot squirrel that Tazzy had ever seen. He kissed her hand in Decolian tradition, and the furry feel of his lips on her skin made her giggle.
The final Guardian had an angry twist to his lips. Silver took her hand and kissed it, “Pleased to meet you, Commander Rikkat.”
Tazzy felt her stomach flip when she heard that voice. “Thank you for the greeting, Silver.”
Sollas was snickering. “I just knew you two would have something in common. Silver, isn’t she truly a vision?”
Silver’s lips tightened again. “How did you two meet?”
Sollas laughed, “She picked me up at the Companion club.”
Tazzy winced. “Accurate, but hardly the whole story.”
Sollas patted her hand, and she winced at the exposure to her skin that he was bringing on.
Silver jerked his head toward the king and queen. “You are ignoring your hosts.”
Tazzy blushed. “You are correct.”
She released Sollas’s arm and walked over to the other members of the royal family. She curtseyed deeply before the king and queen and bowed before the princess.
Rusalla was amused. “Welcome to dinner, Imperial Peacekeeper Rikkat. How is it that you can make men so silly over you?” Rusalla smiled while her parents chuckled.
“It is a skill I acquired over time.” Tazzy smiled politely, and when Sollas came up to take possession of her arm again, she didn’t make a fuss.
Contact seduction was never her goal. When Arkenor left her, he was on a stretcher, heading for home, she had wanted the power to stop a man in his tracks. She had filed for secure alteration, and the Nyal Imperium had tried to oblige, but fate had done it for them. Her ability wa
s dependant on contact, but there wasn’t a species in the imperium that she couldn’t sway to her side.
If she wasn’t concentrating on control, the men simply became aroused and wanted to get closer to her. It wasn’t the worst way to live, but the men were never the right man. The right man was glaring at her from across the room.
She was going to have to invest in a new fantasy face for lonely nights. Arkenor was now off the menu.
Shusain rang a chime, and Sollas led her to the table, helping her settle into her chair before he took a seat next to her.
Silver sat across the table from her, which confused matters for a moment. Apparently, there was a protocol, but Quell stepped into the breach.
Dinner was served, and a round of polite questions-and-answers session began.
Tazzy brought out all of her manners and ate as politely as possible, answering the questions that didn’t break protocol or the security veils that were in place around her alteration.
The king and queen saved most of their questions for Silver. They had an intense interest in the work that the Guardians had been doing in the area and his role in it. Tazzy looked from the royals to Silver, and the moment she made the connection that they were acting like his parents, a hand slipped up her thigh.
Sollas kept an impassive face, but his hand was slowly stroking up and down her inner thigh, getting closer to her sex with every trail of his fingers.
Tazzy reached below the table and tried to pry his hand away, but he continued to stroke her as if her strength meant nothing.
Silver was glaring at her from across the table, so she widened her eyes and jerked her head toward the prince. Silver’s lips tightened, and he shifted in his chair.
A moment passed, and then, Sollas jerked his hand away, clawing at his clothing and leaping up, tipping his chair over as he tried to get away.
