by Linda Mooney
“Yes, Mother. Let me go get Dad—”
The sound of the kitchen door opening to Vall Vosstien’s ranting interrupted them. “…going to have to get another set of valves for that slider, Cara,” the man irritably commented a moment before he saw the tall figure standing in the kitchen. A look of absolute delight came over the older man’s face. “Udo!”
Father and son shared a hug, and the three of them walked into the living room to visit.
“Where’s Dallin?” Hunter inquired about his younger brother as everyone took a seat.
“He’ll be home shortly. He got accepted by flight school,” Cara told him proudly. “He has six more months of training, and then he wants to apply to the Corps.”
Hunter nodded, smiling. Vall Vosstien still worked for the Corps as a fighter pilot, and was known by many as one of the best. It was no surprise that both of his sons would have the same talent at the helm. “I just now got your message,” he confessed. “That’s why I’m here.”
“Well?” Vall scrutinized his son. “Tell us about her.”
“There’s not much I can tell you. We were … stunned would be putting it mildly. No one thought a Guardian would be placed in the HandFast lottery,” Hunter told them quietly. He was hunched slightly over, resting his arms on his legs as he used his hands when he spoke. It was a habit he had that he’d never quite broken himself of.
“You were stunned,” Vall hooted. “Your mother and I were … well, even though this world doesn’t participate in such a barbaric practice, we keep up with the news coming from there. We couldn’t believe you would consent to being part of such a thing.”
“Because I am a Guardian, that’s my home world now,” Hunter explained. “As such, I’m considered as much a citizen as any of them. Don’t think I was happy to hear my name called out, because I wasn’t.” He paused for a split-second, then added, “Not at first.”
Cara leaned over to place a hand on his arm. Her face reflected her worry for her son’s welfare. “You’ve spoken before about this StarLight woman. What kind of person is she?”
“Yeah, Udo. Tell us the truth. We’ve been getting an earful of all kinds of stories about her,” Vall said darkly. “And most of them I don’t like retelling.”
“I can imagine,” Hunter began, recalling the falsehoods Provoker had been feeding them these past couple of years. The man was going to be made to confess his sins before this was all over. Confess, and then pay.
“You know what they call her around here, don’t you?” his father continued. “They call her a first-class slut. They say she’s given herself to almost every man at Guardian Command. She’s not even from that world, we’ve heard.”
For one of the rare times in his life, Hunter allowed his darker side show itself to his parents. They knew at once he was infuriated by the man’s remarks.
“There’s a man I work with who has been viciously spreading those same rumors. He dated Star for about a week, soon after she became a member, and all he’s been able to brag about since then is his conquest of her in bed. Dad … Mother … I swear to you now, Terrin was a virgin our first night of HandFast.”
The response he got from the two people sitting before him was what he’d been hoping to see. “Oh, by all that’s holy,” Cara breathed aloud. “Then why would people say such things about her?”
Vall answered her question. “It’s obvious. It’s because of that skintight uniform she wears. She flaunts everything she has, and she doesn’t care what people say about her when she does.”
“You’re wrong there again, Dad.” Hunter had to take a deep breath to steady himself. The last thing he thought he’d be doing tonight was defending StarLight to his own family. “Star needs the suit to help her soak up the magnetic fields that power her abilities. It’s like a second skin for a reason. As for the flaunting…” He made a little gesture with his hands. “The real Terrin is hidden deep inside herself. She’s either ashamed of her past, or something happened to her she never wants to remember. Either way, the persona she shows is just a mask. Trust me. Inside she’s a frightened, lonely person seeking comfort. Solace.”
“And you think you’re the man who can bring it to her?” Cara asked gently.
“Yes. I hope to. Only time will tell, though, won’t it?” Glancing at the chronometer strapped to his wrist, Hunter got to his feet. “Look, I’m sorry, but I’m on a time clock here. I need to get back to Command.” Pausing, he wondered how to continue, when his mother stepped directly in front of him and stared up into his eyes.
“Udo?” She peered into him, like she’d always been able to do all his life. “When will you bring her here for us to meet?”
“Soon, I hope. You’ll get to meet her soon.”
“I thought the purpose of a HandFast was quick and impersonal impregnation,” Vall commented, but there was no vindictiveness in his tone.
“Well, there are always exceptions,” Hunter admitted. He gave his mother a quick kiss to her cheek. Glancing back up at his father, he told them, “Don’t believe everything the media says. They’re only spitting out what they’ve been fed, even if it’s bile.”
“Udo … if … I mean, when she becomes pregnant, what will you do? What will become of the baby? I mean … it’ll be your child. Our grandchild. Can you walk away from it like the HandFast says you must do?” Cara stepped back into her husband’s embrace as she waited for her son’s answer.
Placing his hands behind his neck, Hunter rubbed the knotted muscles caused by stress. “Right now I’m fighting another battle. Once I’ve won that one, then I can concentrate on what you’ve just asked me. Goodnight, Mother, Dad. Tell Dallin hello for me. Tell him I’m sorry I missed him. I’ll send word next time before I pop in, so you can be prepared.”
Before they could respond, Hunter disappeared from sight to return to Guardian Command. A minute passed in silence, then Cara leaned her head back to look up at her husband. “Udo has committed himself to her.”
“For certain?”
She nodded. “Beyond a doubt. He loves her. Now he’s ready to fight for her.”
“And … what about the baby?”
She smiled softly. “One battle at a time, my heart. Allow him to fight one battle at a time.”
[Back to Table of Contents]
Chapter 12
Passion
It was after eight when Hunter returned to Guardian Command. His first destination was the transport bay to see if the medics were still examining StarLight. To his relief, they were just wrapping up. He hadn’t lost any time with her.
Keeping within his netherworld, he watched and listened to the physicians as they ordered her to get as much rest as possible.
“HandFasting demands an extreme emotional toil on the participating couples,” one doctor in particular advised her. “That, along with the physical demands, will wear you down and make you vulnerable to any sickness passing along. And since you’re also a Guardian, you’re going to be a hundred times more susceptible to exhaustion. Do you understand me, StarLight?”
Star nodded.
During her lecture, another physician had managed to worm his way beside her, and now he laid a hand on her back in a supportive gesture. Hunter noticed, with narrowing eyes, that the man’s hand was gradually making its way down her back, to where he could rest it around her waist. A bit more, and it would soon be on her derriere, and Hunter had no doubt that was the hand’s intended destination. Drawing closer, he waited for the man to make his move so he could accost the idiot amid witnesses.
As the other physicians turned to leave, the impulsive doctor turned to Star and gave her his best bedside smile. “I was wondering if you would allow me to be a bit forward,” he began, ignoring the apprehensive look on Star’s face. “If I’m going too fast, just let me know, and I’ll be happy to wait. But I was wondering … after the HandFast, and after you’ve dealt with taking care of the child and sent it off to its parents … would I be allowed to ask you
out for dinner? Or perhaps take you someplace special you’d like to visit?”
Hunter felt the rush of anger darken his eyes, until he saw an almost exact expression come over Star’s face.
“How dare you ask me that when I am HandFasted,” she breathed heavily, letting her resentment fuel her growing temper.
“I know I’m a bit off-base here, but I didn’t see when I would have another opportunity to ask you,” the young man ventured.
Hunter saw the hand slip downward, and apparently Star felt it as well. What happened next took him completely by surprise.
A shrill scream of sheer terror erupted from the physician’s mouth as he was hurled straight up into the ceiling of the transport bay, his body released from the planet’s gravitational pull. He hit the flat part of the ceiling with a resounding whump!, and the screaming abruptly ended. The man was out cold.
Materializing a few feet away, Hunter slowly applauded the woman’s ingenuity as the other doctors came running to see what had happened. Right behind them were Morning Fire and Deceiver, alerted also by the man’s cry of terror.
“What happened?” one doctor yelled.
“He propositioned me, then he groped me,” Star snapped hotly. “Asshole,” she added, almost as an afterthought. Hunter couldn’t help but laugh.
“Let him down, Star. I think he’s learned his lesson.”
“I doubt it,” she mumbled, but lowered the man to the floor anyway so his fellow physicians could examine him. “If you people are done with your examinations, I’d like to get off this damn table. I’m starved, Hunter. Can we go get something to eat?”
“Yeah. Come on. Let’s go raid the dining hall.”
Star gave him a cursory once-over. “You’re still in uniform? What have you been doing while I was with the docs?”
“I’ll tell you later,” he promised as they walked toward the doors that exited into the courtyard. The dining hall was situated on the opposite end, across from the small topiary garden.
“What time is it?”
“After eight. Don’t worry. We have all night.”
They casually strolled over to the dining hall, neither one of them talking. They were lost in their individual thoughts. On what the coming night would bring. It wasn’t until they entered the empty room that Hunter broke the silence.
“Are you sure you’re all right?” he asked her as they settled at a table over plates of fresh fruit. The jama berries were in season and exceptionally sweet. They both had agreed they didn’t need anything heavy before retiring for the night. It was well past the regular dinner hour, and they found themselves alone in the dining room.
“Got a clean bill of health and a lecture about getting enough rest.” She lifted violet eyes to his blue ones. “Easier said than done,” she said, popping another berry in her mouth.
Hunter got up to fetch them both a bottle of water. Handing hers over, he uncapped his and took a long drink.
“So, tell me. Where’d you go?” she asked.
“What makes you think I went somewhere?” he challenged her with a smile.
Star squinched her nose right back at him. “Because I have this feeling that once you call it a day and go back to your quarters, that uniform comes off first thing. I’m right, aren’t I?” When she got a small smile in answer, Star leaned over the table and gave him a playful shove against his shoulder. “Come on! Admit it! I’m right, aren’t I?”
“You’re right,” he admitted, reaching for more berries. “Now what do you want me to do? Applaud your astuteness?”
Star snorted. “Men.”
Now she got a laugh from him. Taking another drink of water, Hunter saw her watching him intently. “What now?”
“That’s twice in less than half an hour that I’ve heard you laugh.”
“And that’s odd because…”
“You don’t laugh, Hunter. In fact, you rarely smile. You’re so damned serious all the time. And I mean all the time.” Nibbling on another berry, Star kept searching his face. “What kind of man are you, Udo Vosstien? You’re nothing like the others. In fact, sometimes I wonder if someone didn’t just make you up.”
“No. I was born, just like everyone else.”
“Where?” She rested her cheek in the palm of the hand she’d propped on the table.
“It’s a small planet. Abernath.”
“In the Plo Corra system? Past Tri-Secular?”
He raised his eyebrows at her. “That’s the one.”
“It’s a pretty planet. Awesome hot star. There’s a galactic fighter squadron based there, isn’t there?”
“Yeah. My father’s a squad leader.”
Now it was Star’s turn to look surprised. “Your father’s still alive?”
“Yes. And my mother. I also have a younger brother who’s just entered flight school. He wants to become a pilot, just like Dad.”
Hunter watched as Star jumped to her feet and went to get them slices of melon, bringing the bowl back to their table. “Tell me more about your family. Do any of them have powers?”
He shook his head. “Just me.”
“Sometime you’re going to have to tell me about it.”
“About what?” he gave her a curious look.
“About how you found out about your power. How your parents … how they accepted it.” She lowered her eyes and pretended to search the bowl for a suitable slice. Hunter knew better.
“Tell me … what’s it like having a family?” The question she posed answered a hundred of his. Even if she never said another word, he knew Star had no one to go home to. No family, no parents, no siblings. It explained so much of the emptiness he’d found inside her. In just a few short days he had discovered more about this woman, who now meant everything to him, than everyone else knew, even after working with her these past two years since she’d become a Guardian.
“That’s where I was earlier,” he admitted, picking up a melon slice. “While you were being examined.”
Her eyes widened. “You were? But Abernath has to be … what?”
“Just over six parsecs away. Closer to six and a half.”
“Dearest heavens, Hunter! How far can you transport yourself?”
His honest answer was in the shrug of his shoulders. “I’ve managed fourteen in one jump, but it was an emergency, and it damn near did me in.”
“Wow.” Star stared at him in wonder, and Hunter found out he liked surprising her. Without thinking, he glanced at his wrist chronometer. “What time is it?” she whispered.
“Close to ten.”
“Already?”
He glanced back up to her, and their eyes locked. Several heartbeats passed where neither one made the initial move to leave, although they knew they would have to. Sooner or later. There was their duty still awaiting them. Duty that no longer frightened them, but which promised a delirious, heady experience they both had been unable to keep out of their minds all day.
Star could feel that sensation of freefalling overcoming her, making her giddy. Between her thighs she could feel a wetness leaking into her bodysuit. There was a heat building down there that only one thing could extinguish. She knew her breathing was quickening, but she was unable to stop herself. Across the way, she could see his own rising heat glittering in his eyes. He looked ready to consume her in flames hotter than the molten core of any sun. Oh, sweetest heavens, what had this man done to her?
“Hunter … what’s happening to us?” Her breath was sweet from the fruit as she leaned over the table to get closer to him. She could see his hands, one gripping the table, the other his nearly empty bottle of water. Hands that could evoke something wondrous from within her. Hands she wanted on her now, touching and stroking, and making her crave him with fevered pitch.
“I don’t understand it myself, Star, but I hope it lasts,” he murmured in return. He slowly leaned toward her to caress her forehead with his lips. Despite all they had gone through, she still radiated that incredible feminine sce
nt that was just her. Only her. After last night, after he had left her, he had refused to remove all of it from his skin. Even now there were traces of it still on his arms and neck. “Go refresh yourself. I’ll be there shortly.”
Star nodded and removed herself from the table. Hunter watched her go, then quickly cleaned up their mess and left for his own quarters.
Fifteen minutes later he transported himself into her bedroom where she had again doused the lights. This time she was standing by the large window, looking out. The shutters were open, allowing for the night sky to glitter across the room. In her diaphanous white gown, she was like a spirit ready to haunt his dreams.
Quietly he approached her and placed his hand on her shoulders, bending his head so he could nuzzle her temple. To his surprise, Star backed up until she was pressed firmly against him. Unconsciously he slid his arms down hers until he reached her hands. Fingers intertwined, a brief squeeze of silent communication, and he lifted her arms with his to wrap her in a solid hug across her chest. Her sigh of contentment was audible in the still night.
“You know … our lives are difficult,” she whispered, tilting her head back. Hunter was placing a row of tender kisses along her shoulder and neck, and she wanted to feel the side of his face with hers.
He paused. “Yes, they are,” he agreed, his cheek brushing hers.
“Then … let’s not complicate things further.”
She felt his body tense behind her. “What are you trying to say, Terrin?”
“Please tell me this isn’t all because of the HandFast. I mean … the way you touch me. The way you kiss me. The way you…” A soft moan vibrated in her throat as his tongue found the tender spot beneath her ear.
“Make love.”
The sound of those words, spoken in his rich voice, made her knees go weak. Thank the stars he was holding her firmly.
“The way you make love to me. Please tell me that if there hadn’t been the HandFast, that you would’ve touched me the same way.” She waited for his answer, hoping he would say what her heart was begging to hear. Even if he had to lie, or make something up, the emptiness inside her needed to be filled with any kind of light.
