Acer frowned at him. He knew he sounded snappish and angry, but he was tired of going over the same subject every time they met up. His brother leaned past him and pressed another button. Remi looked up at him.
“I just need to check something on my ship. I came straight to see you,” Acer said with an affectionate smile.
It had been a long time since they’d seen each other, although they communicated regularly. The last time had been Sebastian’s marriage and back then he’d been a whole person. He flexed the fingers on his left hand again and stared at it. He didn’t know why he couldn’t accept it was a part of him now. He wondered if he ever would.
“What else did she say?” he said, not taking his eyes off his hand. He still had nightmares about the night he’d lost it. Not even Emmanuelle’s kind words and light accepting touch could make those stop.
“That you insist on getting hurt.” Acer laughed and shook his head, his smile broad. “I told her that I couldn’t blame you. She really is a pretty one.”
Remi couldn’t deny that. Emmanuelle was beautiful. He’d never seen an angel like her.
The doors opened onto the cargo deck and Remi stepped out first. He looked at the people carrying ship parts through the airlock. There was a muffled curse and Acer strode past him. He hurried to keep up with him.
“Engineer Stella, I told you to be careful with those weapons!” There was anger in Acer’s voice but Remi noticed it didn’t touch his eyes. The look in them was soft, turning gentle as Acer watched the female engineer nod and continue with her work. Remi looked at the woman and then back at his brother.
“Not a nurse, but a pretty one all the same,” he said, watching Acer closely to gauge his reaction.
His brother gave him a shrug and a look that lied and said he hadn’t noticed.
“Balt transferred her from his ship for breaking the gravity drive. I won’t be a minute.” Acer walked away, disappearing through the airlock.
Remi looked at the engineer again. His brother couldn’t fool him. He’d have to congratulate his older brother, Balt, for spotting a perfect woman for Acer. She was exactly his type—strong, intelligent, stubborn and dark haired. She’d be a wonderful handful that would get Acer’s back up and make him fall for her.
Acer reappeared and stood beside him a moment.
“Are you alright?” he said.
Remi nodded. “I was just thinking. You did disturb my thinking after all.”
“She watches you, you know,” Acer said and turned his back to the ship. Remi noticed that the engineer glanced across at Acer. He wondered how his brother would react if he mentioned that he wasn’t the only one a woman was watching.
“She also calls me Lyra IV.” He turned away and walked back towards the lift. “I can’t get her to call me Remi.”
“Protocol, dear brother,” Acer said and clapped his hand against his good shoulder. “It’s the bane of us all.”
Was it? Perhaps he and his brothers weren’t so different after all. He led the way to the mess hall and entered second, allowing Acer to go first just so he could see the panicked scramble of every soldier in the room as they shot to their feet to salute him.
He wanted to be a captain and in charge of his own ship. There was such a power gap between lieutenant and captain. No one saluted him.
“I know that look,” Acer said. “I had the same one when Balt visited me once during my early years in the army. You’ll get there soon enough. It’s in your blood. We sons of Lyra have a reputation for a reason... perfection is bred into us.”
Remi shook his head and frowned. He raised his left hand and sighed. “I’m not perfect anymore, brother.”
Acer took hold of his hand and looked it over. “Seems perfect to me. Quit moping or I’ll have to have a word with that nurse of yours.”
He cursed his brother for saying that loud enough to draw the attention of everyone in the room. His cheeks blazed and he added a curse aimed at himself for reacting like a child would to such unwelcome attention. So what if he liked Emmanuelle. He was a man. He was flesh and blood and had needs and desires like any other man in the universe. If asked, he’d be the first to admit that he wanted her for his own. It wasn’t as though he was hiding his attraction. Everyone in his squad knew he got hurt with the intention of getting himself into her office again.
He’d gone there today with nothing more than a case of bruising.
She never turned him away though.
He’d seen her turn others away for such petty wounds.
He chose a seat in the corner and Acer sat beside him. He listened to his brother relaying the tale of his last battle in space and it wasn’t long before they had an audience. Acer was as charming towards the women and as brash towards the men as usual. It was good to see him again. He looked down at his left hand. Perhaps his brother and Emmanuelle were right. His arm hadn’t changed who he was. In fact, he couldn’t imagine life without it now. He’d grown strangely used to the superior strength in it and had learned to differentiate between his two hands so he didn’t crush things with his left hand when using both.
Acer laughed about something and everyone laughed with him. Remi realised that he was talking about him. It was the first time Remi had tried to fly something coming up all over again. He went to stop him but Acer held up a hand.
“Come, brother, don’t be shy. In a few weeks they’ll send you to the pilot academy and everyone will discover the dirty secret of your first flight and crash landing into the palace ponds,” Acer said with another laugh.
He leaned back in his chair, letting Acer have his way.
Just as Acer was about to tell them, the alarms sounded across the ship.
He looked up at the ceiling.
“All squadrons are to report for duty. This is not a drill. We have been issued orders and are en route to Varka Two.”
His blood ran cold. Varka Two? His gaze fell to his arm. Was he strong enough to go back there? He’d learnt a lot in the past few years, but was it enough to keep him alive? The Varkans were fierce fighters and had some of the most advanced military equipment in the universe.
Everyone scrambled to their posts and the room was empty in a matter of seconds. He looked at Acer.
“Maybe we’ll get to spend more time together soon,” his brother said and stood, placing a hand on his shoulder. “I’d better return to my ship. We’ll have to detach before you make the shift to full speed.”
Remi stood and nodded, trying to be strong. Acer pulled him into a hug and Remi closed his eyes as he held him in return.
“Take care, little brother,” Acer said and then released him, turning away and walking out the door.
He was alone.
He looked at the empty room and fought the fear inside himself. He was stronger now and far more skilled. The Varkans wouldn’t get the better of him.
When the ship shifted to full speed, he left the room and went to find his squadron. They would leave the ship before it reached Varka Two, each squadron entering the atmosphere in their own set of ships. There were three for each squadron. He’d be in the one with Alessandro, Jericho, Pietr and Ambra, as he always was.
He reached the cargo deck and crossed it towards the dock where his ship waited. The window of the airlock where his brother’s ship had been docked showed nothing but empty space now. He would see his brother again. He had no doubt about that.
Everyone was gathered at the far end of the cargo bay, waiting for orders. He found Jericho and Ambra in one corner.
“How’s it looking?” he said with a nod towards the captains. The six men were closely huddled together, talking about something. They were probably discussing tactics and information. One day he’d be a part of that group. One day.
“Like war, only worse,” Jericho said and Ambra gave him a worried look. Jericho grinned and grabbed her around the waist, pulling her up to him. “Nothing to worry about, I won’t let the nasty Varkans anywhere near you, sweets.”
She frowned and pushed him off her. Remi wished they’d both get it over with and admit they were in love. Their constant playful jesting and teasing made it blindly obvious to everyone but them apparently. He noticed Ambra glance at Jericho, her cheeks flushed. Jericho gave her a wide grin.
Remi clenched his fists. “I won’t let them near any of you.”
“Those are fighting words,” Jericho said and playfully punched him on the arm. He winced when his shoulder grated. Jericho look worried now. “You sure you’re up for this? Maybe you should get your nurse to check you over one last time... real close like... an all over inspection from her could send a soldier to his death a happy man.”
Ambra hit Jericho in the chest and glared.
Remi ignored him and the rest of his squadron as they joined in. His thoughts drifted to the nurse in question. Jericho was right in a way. He had to see her.
Everyone fell silent when the captains returned to their squadrons. Remi listened half-heartedly to the orders they were being given, his mind still on Emmanuelle. He couldn’t leave for Varka Two without letting her know his feelings and discovering her own.
“You have thirty minutes to prepare for launch,” his captain said and he looked up at him.
Thirty minutes.
He had to see her.
He pushed through the crowd, not answering Jericho’s shouted questions as he focused on getting to her. He only had thirty minutes before he had to board the ship that would take him away from her to Varka Two. His shoulder was the perfect excuse to see her again.
He made his way up through the decks to her office. Its location was fixed in his mind now. He could find it blindfolded. Reaching the door, he knocked and it slid open.
“Lieutenant Lyra IV, I thought you’d be en route to Varka Two by now.” There was a hint of nerves in her voice when she mentioned the name of the planet. She knew his file and knew that Varka Two was where he’d lost his arm. Her concern touched him and gave him the courage to continue.
“I left in a hurry earlier and didn’t let you finish your work on my shoulder. I thought it best to get it checked out completely before I go into battle.”
He sat on her inspection table, nerves turning his stomach. She put down the computer pad she had been reading and walked over to him. Her thigh brushed his knee as she stopped close to him.
“You’ll have to take your shirt off.” There was a hint of seduction to her voice, a low sensuality that made him warm inside. Her fingers brushed his neck by his collar and worked downwards towards the buttons of his shirt. Clearly she wasn’t expecting him to undress himself this time.
His heart accelerated when she leaned towards him, her hands grazing his arms as she pulled his shirt down them. Her shoulder pressed against his chest and he tilted his head towards her, closing his eyes as he breathed in her soft perfume.
“Call me Remi,” he whispered into her ear. She tensed and paused at her work. When she straightened up slightly, her mouth was close to his. He could feel her breath against his face, unsteady and trembling. She stayed there a moment before moving away.
He watched her fiddling with the instruments on the tray. He was making her nervous. Did that mean she liked him too? He should’ve asked his brother how to read women. He’d never been any good at it.
Emmanuelle teetered on the brink of calling him Remi as he’d asked her to. It wasn’t her place though. She couldn’t break the rules. The army was her home now. If they discharged her she had nowhere to go. It wasn’t only that. She didn’t want to leave this place. She didn’t want to leave Remi.
He preened his black hair back, long fingers pushing the wavy tendrils of it from his face. It was longer on top than she remembered, but still short at the back.
Picking up the scanner, she walked around him, consciously brushing his knee with her hip as she passed. He breathed in sharply and his eyes followed her, burning her body with their heat and hunger. She brought her hand up and stroked it over his shoulder as she came to stand behind him. He kept his head turned to the side but closed his eyes. How much time did they have? How long would it be before he was gone? Fear whispered to her heart. She didn’t know if he’d come back this time. Had he learnt enough over these past two years to keep himself alive on that hellish planet?
Tears filled her eyes but she suppressed them, focusing on her work. She ran the scanner over his shoulder. The skin around the graze was bruising now, darkening and becoming mottled. The scan revealed no fractures or anything out of the ordinary. He’d probably jarred it or it was merely stiff from the bruising.
She didn’t dare move into clear view of him while there were tears in her eyes. It would only worry him and make her look weak. She’d been through so much in her life. Now wasn’t the time to cry. If he left here worrying about her, it would impact on his focus while he was down on the planet. She knew that he thought about her, that he had feelings for her. She’d realised it shortly after meeting him. The fact that he found reasons to see her at least three or four times a week had made it obvious.
Reaching around him, she picked up the skin healing device and ran the red beam over his flesh. The bruising disappeared. Now all she had to do was give him a dose of painkillers and he’d be on his way. Her twin hearts beat in opposition of that thought and the idea of him going into battle. She’d seen the fallout of war and the casualties it left in its wake. She didn’t want that to happen to Remi.
“All done,” she whispered and placed her hand against his back. He tensed and then relaxed again. His body was warm beneath her fingers and she traced them downwards, following the line of his right shoulder blade. He had a strong back and an amazing body that put all others she’d seen to shame. It was no wonder the sons of Lyra had a reputation. Now two of them were married, leaving only Remi and his older brother Acer to be caught. She’d seen the looks the female soldiers gave Remi. All of them wanted him. They wanted to catch him.
A jealous snake hissed in her ear that they couldn’t have him. He was hers. It was her who he came to every time he was hurt. It was her who healed him and helped him through his dark times.
She moved around him, keeping close so her hip brushed his knees again. His hands flexed against the edge of the inspection table, fingers indenting the black leather.
“Not leaving?” she said as she placed the healing device back onto the tray along with the scanner. She looked up when he didn’t answer, straight into dark passionate eyes. Her mouth turned dry and the twin beat of her hearts threatened to make her dizzy. His gaze fell to her lips. Hers dropped to his body. Bad move. Every muscle of it was tensed as he gripped the table. It was a divine sight worthy of the gods’ notice and it made her hum with desire inside.
“Emmanuelle,” he whispered, husky and low and full of desire.
She tried to swallow. Her throat was too dry and sticky.
His left hand rose.
Her eyes closed and she kept her head lowered as his fingers caressed her cheek. It surprised her on two fronts. One, that he had finally discovered the courage to touch her and two, that he was using his cybernetic arm to do so. His hand opened, palm cupping her cheek. The feel of his thumb sweeping across her lower lip was too much. Desire jolted through her, sparking along every nerve. She lowered her head further, feeling the change in her and unable to stop her long silver hair from floating upwards in response to the strong emotions surging through her.
“What the...” His hand raised her head up. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to get control of herself again. She couldn’t. The feelings were too strong. Her hair danced in the air, her hearts revelling in his touch. “I’ve always meant to ask you where you’re from. I guess I have to now.”
Sons of Lyra: Fight For Love Page 2
