by Anna Argent
Ava grinned. “I’m not sure yet, but if I don’t even know what I’m doing, Dimas will never see it coming.”
*****
Dimas read the transcript his son handed to him.
“The Loriahans will actually send weapons to the humans?” he asked Korlayan.
His son nodded. “Do you think we should worry?”
“Only a fool would ignore a potential threat. And I’m no fool.”
“What do we do, Father?”
“The Sorican girl has emotional ties here—the ones she called family. Go find them and bring them to me.”
Korlayan bowed his head. “As you command.”
Chapter Seventeen
“Any word from Orac?” Ava asked for the twentieth time.
Radek didn’t need to glance at his receiver to know the answer. It had only been a couple of minutes since he’d last checked. “None.”
She leaned back on the worn couch, fidgeting with nervous energy.
They’d come to one of the camps he and his friends had set up—places where they could hide, rest and recover from injuries. Abandoned homes, old barns, industrial buildings left vacant. As long as the locations were isolated and uninhabited, they were useful.
The camps were set up with strings of perimeter alarms to alert him of any intruders, along with plenty of weapons, food and water.
This particular camp was an ancient farmhouse in the country that had once belonged to an old man with no heirs. He’d died several months ago, leaving the human courts to determine who now owned the property. Until then, Radek was happy to have a safe place for Ava to rest.
Not that she was doing much of that.
“You should try to get some sleep.”
“I can’t. There’s no cell phone signal out here for me to call home. I have no clue how Mom and Emily are faring. I can’t even get any news to see what’s going on in the world.”
Radek looked out into the darkness, checking his surroundings. Here, the world seemed untouched by the Raide. Everything was normal. Quiet. Safe.
If only he could convince Ava that the illusion was reality.
He went to her and bodily forced her to lie down. She resisted at first, but once his hands were on her, urging her to put her feet up, pushing her head down to the arm of the couch, she relaxed.
“You’re exhausted,” he told her as he stroked her hair. “You need to sleep.”
“I can’t. I keep replaying what that man said over and over in my head.”
“Which part?” he asked.
“The part about my parents being brilliant in battle, and how your people expect the same out of me. I’m not like that. I’m not like them.”
“They’re your people too.”
She shook her head, making her blond curls bob around on the dingy couch fabric. She deserved better surroundings—fancy, beautiful, clean things that made her smile, not the dusty, forgotten home of a dead man.
“I wish I could talk to my mom. I know you set them up so they’d be safe, but I’d feel better hearing her voice. And Emily’s.”
“I left them a communications device, but it’s best if we don’t use it. Dimas might be monitoring for Loriahan technology. And if he is, it could draw him right to us, or your family.”
Ava hugged herself. “They shouldn’t be alone. Emily is timid. Gentle. She’d have no clue how to fight, even if her life depended on it. And Mom…”
She trailed off with a catch in her voice.
He knelt by her side and took her hand in his. “What about your mother?”
Tears shimmered in Ava’s pretty eyes. “She’s dying. Bone cancer. She’s undergone all the treatments and fought it every step of the way, but I can see her growing tired. Weak. She’s getting too worn down to keep fighting.”
Radek had noticed that the woman hadn’t looked well, but he’d had no idea how bad it really was. “I’m sorry, Ava.”
She sniffed and blinked away the tears before any could fall. “That’s why I can’t leave. They need me. And when Mom is gone, Emily will need me even more. I love them, Radek. I won’t abandon them.”
He admired her loyalty, even as he cursed it. There was no way the Sorican military would allow her to stay here. Especially now that they knew who she was. She was too much of an asset to leave in the hands of an alien race.
He couldn’t bring himself to tell her that, so instead, he stuck with a different truth. “We’ll find Dimas as soon as Orac sends word. Once he and Korlayan are gone, there will be no one left to lead here. The invasion will fall apart, and your family will be safe again, and with enough groceries to last them two years.”
She gave him a little grin at that. “I guess that’s one way to look at it.”
His vision began to blur, but he did his best to hide it. He couldn’t inject the blockers now—not when Ava was still awake to ask questions. If she knew he was compromised, she might not trust him, and he had to have her trust so he could keep her safe.
He stroked her springy hair. “All you can do now is wait, and every good soldier knows that when there’s downtime, you use it to sleep. There’s no way to know when the next rest might come.”
“Is that what you’re going to do? Sleep?”
He nodded. “I’ve got perimeter alarms set. If anything comes our way, or if Orac activates the disc, we’ll hear it.”
“You won’t leave without me?” she asked.
The edges of his vision started to go dim, he grew dizzy, and his fingers shook with the first sign of the tremors. “Never,” he promised. “We’re a team now.”
She seemed satisfied with his response and rolled over. He covered her with a blanket and then waited until he was certain she was asleep.
Once he knew he was alone, he dug in his bag for the drug he needed to stay alive. Every prisoner was dosed with poison to ensure their good behavior. If he didn’t inject the antidote every twenty-six hours, the poison began killing him. It was the Sorican’s way of making sure no one escaped punishment.
He’d been released from prison to come here, but he was still dependent on the antidote. His superiors made sure he had what he needed, but never enough for him to go very long or get very far.
Worlds away or not, Radek’s prison walls were still very much in place.
Chapter Eighteen
Radek woke with the remnants of a disturbing dream haunting him.
He’d been back in his cell, locked up like an animal again. He had no window, no way to tell if it was night or day. There were no sounds of prisoners shuffling inside their confines or guards roaming about. Just silence.
A deep feeling of isolation closed in around him, making it hard to breathe. He wasn’t sure how, but he knew he was alone. Totally and completely alone. No one was coming to free him, or feed him. There would be no more doses of antidote to keep him alive.
He was going to die in here, alone and forgotten, leaving nothing behind to show he’d ever lived.
He woke with panic expanding in his chest and the taste of a scream building on his tongue. He clamped his lips shut to hold back his strangled noise of terror. Sweat cooled his bare torso, rising in swirling tendrils of steam. His frantic pulse slowed as he shed the dream and took a firm grasp on reality.
Ava lay asleep on the couch a few feet away from him. He’d taken up a defensive position between her and the front door, his weapon at his side.
The soft sound of her breathing calmed his nerves. After a few moments, he was able to even out his breathing.
He wasn’t caged. He wasn’t alone. He wasn’t dying. Ava was here.
He had to be closer to her—near the basic comfort of another living soul. It was childish of him to seek her out, but like a child, he was powerless to resist the urge to creep to her side.
Her skin was warm with sleep. He could feel her heat cascading over him like a caress the closer he got. The scent of her skin made something hot and vital unfurl inside of him. She was so pretty lying there, h
er blond curls a rioting mess around her face. Her lips were parted, and he could just see the shiny, deep pink skin lying just beyond reach.
Radek wanted to taste that flesh so badly, he had to take several long, slow breaths to keep from doing just that.
He wouldn’t violate her while she was helpless, but there was no harm in touching her hand, was there? That sweet contact of skin-on-skin would go a long way toward reminding him that for now he wasn’t alone.
His thick fingers slid between her slender ones, fitting perfectly as if they’d been puzzle pieces waiting to be joined since the birth of time.
He closed his eyes, drinking in the sheer perfection of the moment, reveling in being alive, free and in the company of a beautiful, brave, intelligent woman.
“Couldn’t sleep?” she asked, her voice soft and quiet.
What was he going to say? That he had a bad dream? The last thing he wanted her to see him as was a child.
“Just making sure all the alarms were working properly.”
“I wasn’t getting much rest either.”
“Too worried about your family?”
“Definitely. I keep wondering if they’re okay. Mom is so frail from fighting cancer, and Emily has always been smarter and sweeter than she is tough. They need me.”
“We won’t let them down, but other people need you too.”
“So you say, but the timing couldn’t be worse.”
“The timing would have always been bad. Once the Raide knew you were here, they were coming for you.”
“Why now? Why have the Raide waited all this time if they had the ability to come here and invade our world?”
“They’re smart enough not to fight a war on too many fronts. With our defeat on Loriah nearly complete, I guess it was time to move on to the next conquest. And they finally found out where we sent our best and brightest. We thought we’d hidden the location of the Taken well, but they must have figured it out.”
“Why did you send us here?”
“Scouts were sent to several worlds, but most of them never returned. Some returned with reports that the places they’d visited weren’t suitable—not developed enough to cure disease or injury. The last thing the powers that be wanted was to send the hope of our planet to some world where they’d die from infection.”
She shifted slightly, rolling toward him. “What’s it like back on your world?”
“I won’t lie. Things are pretty ugly, but they weren’t always. I have vague memories from my childhood of beautiful buildings and parks. Our town had a festival every year where people dressed up in polished armor covered in gemstones. There were mock battles and tons of food. The whole thing went on for days.”
“But they don’t do that kind of thing anymore?” she guessed.
“We fight. We struggle to feed ourselves and survive disease and starvation. Everyone who can hold a weapon fights.” A heavy weight of sadness covered him, but he fought not to let her see it. She didn’t need any more reasons not to go home with him. “We’ve grown stronger and harder. Smarter. The Raide think they’ve won, but they’re wrong.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Because we’re desperate now, and there’s nothing more dangerous than a desperate Sorican warrior.”
She was quiet for so long he thought he’d said something wrong. When she finally spoke, her voice was small and uncertain. “I want to help you, but the idea that I have some secret power to fight your war is simply insane.”
“You’re underestimating yourself.”
“I don’t think so, and the idea that a bunch of people are counting on me to do something I have no clue how to do is freaking me out.”
The need to offer comfort came as instinctively as breathing. He stroked her head, sliding her pale curls back from her face. “Everything is going to be fine. And if it’s not, we’ll force it to our will until it is.”
That earned him a smile. “Brute force. Now that’s something I understand.”
“You’re definitely a Sorican.”
“Are all the people there like you?”
His head went immediately to his status as a prisoner. “No. They’re not.”
“That’s too bad. I might be persuaded to take a trip to a world filled with Radeks. I could charge admission and make a fortune.”
He thought about telling her that he was a prisoner—an expendable man in a world filled with too few soldiers. Only the worry that she would look at him differently held him back. He liked the way she saw him now, as someone to be trusted.
She stroked his bare arm as she stared at his naked chest. “Aren’t you cold?”
With her touching him? Never.
“I’m used to dressing like this. It’s one of the ways I stay alive.”
“How? Building up your immunity to pneumonia?”
He slid his thumb across her wrist, marveling at the smoothness of her skin. Even the women on his world were tough. They had to be. The war demanded it of them.
But Ava hadn’t been touched by that darkness yet. She was still soft.
She still needed him to protect her.
Radek shook his head. “I can feel heat sources on my skin. We Soricans have a delicate set of heat sensors built in.”
“Do I have them?” she asked.
“You do, but since you cover your skin all the time, you haven’t had a chance to develop the skill. It takes time and training. You have to learn to pay attention to the feeling in order for it to do you much good.”
An impish grin played around her mouth. “So, what you’re saying is that if I take my shirt off, you can teach me?”
A jolt of lust streaked through him at the thought. “Sweetheart, if you take off your shirt, the only thing I’m going to teach you is how not to be a virgin.”
She stared at him for a long time. “Would that be so bad?”
“It would be the farthest thing from bad ever done. At least if I have anything to say about it. But it might also be something you’d regret.”
“Why? Do you have some kind of horrible alien STD?”
He laughed. “No. But I’m not the kind of man you should be with. Especially your first time.”
“Why not? You want me. Your jeans aren’t up to the challenge of hiding that fact.”
“You and I will only be together for a minute of your life. You deserve someone you care about. Maybe even someone you love.”
All hints of humor fled her eyes, leaving a cold blue sea of fear. “What if I don’t live that long?”
“You will. It’s my job to make sure of that, even if it costs me my life.”
She sat up, spread her knees wide and scooted to the edge of the couch so that he was kneeling between them. Her warm hands cupped his face and forced him to meet her gaze. “So you’re good enough to die for me, but not good enough to sleep with me? I think you’ve got a skewed perception of your value.”
“You don’t think I’d be willing to die for you?” he asked, hurt by her lack of trust.
“No. I know you’d do that. I’ve seen the way you fought when my life was on the line. And I see the way you made your bed between me and danger. There’s no question in my mind that you’d sacrifice yourself for me.” Her voice was rough, almost angry.
“I don’t understand why you seem so upset by that. You have to live, Ava. I don’t.”
She leaned closer, brushing his mouth with the heat of her lips. “All you have to understand is that I want you to kiss me.”
Hot, demanding need pounded through him so hard his hands shook with it. He’d never wanted a woman as much as he wanted Ava. Her beauty and fire. Her fearless loyalty. Her devastating curves. All of it cast a spell on him that robbed him of his better judgment.
“If I kiss you, I’m not going to stop until I’ve tasted every inch of you. I’m going to strip you naked and make you come.” And so there would be no confusion, “If I kiss you, Ava, I’m going to fuck you.”
Her pupils flar
ed at his words. A faint gasp slipped past her lips. A pink flush stole over her cheeks and sank down along her slender throat. “Okay. I’m in.”
He gave himself one more moment to reconsider, but there was no going back. He wanted this too much. She was going to be his. At least for tonight.
Radek closed the small distance between them. He took hold of her chin as his lips met hers.
At first contact, she let out a high, shocked sound, like she hadn’t believed he would kiss her. But an instant later, she flung her arms around him, held on tight, and kissed him back like she was starving for it.
The taste of her drove him crazy. The feel of her in his arms made him wild. She wasn’t timid or shy in her innocence. She was fierce. Hungry.
He picked her up, marveling at how well her body fit his own. Her feet dangled over the floor for a moment before she wrapped her legs around his hips. The damp heat of her pussy hit him hard, telling him she wasn’t just playing him. He didn’t have to question whether or not she was into this. He had plenty of proof.
Her tongue moved boldly in his mouth, filling him with the need to taste more of her. Every sweet curve, every salty dip and hollow—they were all his for the taking.
Radek eased her down to the couch where her body would be cushioned from his bigger, heavier one. Even with the reduced gravitational pull of this world, he could still easily crush her if he wasn’t careful.
She let him take her where he wanted without the slightest hesitation.
He rose up over her just enough to enjoy the sight of her sprawled out for his pleasure. Her eyes were nearly black with lust. Her hair was a wild, messy halo of curls. He wanted to grab hold of them and control her head while he fucked her mouth, while he rode her from behind.
So many fantasies, so little time.
“Take off your shirt,” he ordered. His voice was rough, his tone demanding. He’d wanted to be soft and sweet with her for her first time, but that plan was quickly going by the wayside as both blood and good intentions fled his brain.
Ava stripped off her shirt and bra, proudly revealing her tits. “I want you to touch them again. Suck on them.”
