by Anna Hackett
***
Nera took a deep breath and opened the cabin door.
Alarah leapt to her feet, her gauzy dress fluttering around her. “Nera.”
“Gunn’s dead.”
Alarah rocked on her feet, pressed a closed fist to her chest. “Really?”
Nera moved closer. “Yes. We left his body on the planet.”
The young woman dropped onto the bed. Her breathing was shallow. “He’s dead?”
“Yes.” Nera sat too, careful to keep some space between them. “He’s gone and you’re free.’
“Free.” The word was said in a bewildered tone.
Nera’s hand gripped the silky bed cover. “I know it will take some time to sink in. But you’re truly free, Alarah.”
The woman turned to look at Nera. A tear slid down her cheek, her golden eyes were wide. “My name isn’t Alarah. He called me that.” She straightened her thin shoulders. “My name is Ela.”
Nera nodded. “Hello, Ela. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Ela made a hiccupping sound and raised a shaking hand to her mouth. “What will I do?”
Nera gently grabbed the woman’s hand and moved it back to the bed. “It’s your choice. Whatever you want.”
“I’m afraid. Where do I start?”
Nera let her own memories wash over her. Now, they didn’t seem to hurt so much. Just a bittersweet sting that underscored how far she’d come. “You start with baby steps. Do the things you’ve always wanted to do.”
Ela gave a small nod. “I’ve always wanted to swim in the ocean.”
“There you go. I can recommend the resort world of Duna. Lovely place.”
“I don’t have anything. I can’t afford to just…go where I please.”
“I’ve arranged for Gunn’s portion of the payment for this expedition to go to you.” Nera tapped a finger against her knee. “That’s quite a sizable sum.”
Ela’s mouth opened, closed, opened again. “I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything. Just live. Make a good life for yourself.” Nera stood. “Don’t bury this.” She nodded at the room. “You have to work through what Gunn did to you. If you want to move forward, you can’t forget the past. Use it as a stepping stone to get somewhere better.” Nera drew in a breath. “Believe me, if you try to ignore it or hide from it, you’ll only hurt yourself and deny yourself the chance for more.”
Ela nodded. “I’ll…I’ll try.”
“Good.” Nera knelt and grabbed Ela’s hand. “You deserve more. It’s out there, somewhere. Don’t be afraid to reach for it.”
“Like you’ve been?”
Nera shot her a rueful smile. “This isn’t about me.”
“If I had someone as delicious as Dr. Phoenix, who looked at me the way he looks at you…I’d never let that go.”
Nera smiled and stood. “Then you’re already a lot smarter than me.”
Ela managed a small smile. “I can take him off your hands.”
Nera wagged a finger. “One step in his direction and I’ll hurt you.”
The young woman gave a rusty-sounding laugh. “Thank you. For everything. How can I ever repay you?”
Nera headed for the door. “Live.”
***
Nik was still at the observation window. They’d hit space, and now the Earth was nothing more than a dark ball hanging in a field of distant stars. Humans had let their differences tear them apart, not bring them together, and in the end, they’d destroyed themselves.
He wasn’t about to let that happen to him.
He didn’t hear her, but he sensed her. He turned and spotted her leaning against the wall. She was in an all-in-one black jumpsuit that outlined every lean line of her strong body. She had her arms crossed, her nebula-gaze watching him.
“Ryant offered you a sweet job,” she said. “What you’ve always wanted.”
Nik didn’t bother asking her how she knew. He heard the emotion under her cool words. He could read her far more easily now. He stalked toward her.
She shifted a little, a sure sign of nerves. “I know you’ve missed working for the Institute.”
“I enjoy working with my brothers.” He stopped in front of her.
“I didn’t say you don’t, but it isn’t quite the same as having all the resources of the Institute at your fingertips.”
He pressed his hands to either side of her body and leaned in. “People seem to enjoy deciding the kinds of things I like and want. No one thinks to ask me.”
“Fine.” She lifted her chin. “What do you want, Niklas?”
“You. Just you.” He moved until his lips were a breath from hers. “I love you.”
He felt her chest hitch.
“I know,” she said. “I heard you tell me on the ground.”
He pressed his body against hers, marveling at every inch of her. He kissed her jawline. “You love me, too.”
“Really?” she asked carefully.
“I know you’ve never experienced it before, but you must know how we feel about each other…it’s special. Once in a lifetime.”
“Caring…makes you weak.”
He nuzzled her neck, felt her fingers land on his shoulder and dig in. “You couldn’t be weak if you tried. Take a risk, Nera. You’ve never let fear stop you before. Don’t be a coward now. The payoff this time will be bigger and better than any treasure hunt.”
She forced his head back so she could look at him. “I—”
As her words broke off, he saw a flash of vulnerability in her face and his heart clenched.
“You can love me, Nera. I’ll take care of your heart.”
“I’m not sure I have one. Or if I do, it’s just a dried-up, shriveled husk.”
“No, it isn’t. Give it to me and I’ll treat it as the greatest treasure I’ve ever held. I’ll protect it and give you what you need.” He dropped to his knees and pressed his face to her belly. “I’m already yours. Whatever you choose…I’d never force you. It’s your choice if you want to be with me.”
She tugged him up. “Damn you, Niklas Phoenix. Why did you have to appear in my life and tempt me?” Her lips nipped at his. “Why did you have to show me how love could be?” Her fingers curled into his shirt. “I choose you. It’s always been you.”
Elation soared through him. He yanked her to him and fused their lips together. Damn, he felt like he’d just uncovered the galaxy’s greatest treasure. He boosted her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist.
She pulled back, panting. “I’ll probably still beat you up sometimes.” Her eyelids lowered a little. “And tie you up sometimes too.”
His cock surged against his pants. “I hope so. I still owe you some debts, from all those times you helped us out.”
She rubbed her cheek against his. “No you don’t. You’re the one who taught me that when you love someone, you don’t have to keep score.”
“So, you’re admitting you love me.”
“Maybe.”
He made a growling sound and she laughed.
“Okay, okay.” Her face turned serious and she cupped his cheeks. “I love you, Niklas.”
His chest swelled. It was the greatest treasure he’d ever hunted down. “Thank the stars.”
She smiled. And it was edged with a little bit of evil. “Your brothers are going to have a fit.”
Shit. When he brought Nera home, his brothers would have a fit the size of a supernova. Nik grinned. He didn’t care one bit.
“They’ll get over it.”
She snorted. “Sometime next century.”
“Well, you have beaten them up…a lot.” His smile dissolved. “I still plan to hunt treasure.”
She tilted her head.
“It’ll just be paid for by the Institute, and all the treasures will go into museums now.”
She wrinkled her nose for a second. “Very well, Director Phoenix. And I will be right beside you, keeping you safe.”
He pulled her close
again, his mouth meeting hers. “I’ve got a feeling amazing adventures await us, Nera.”
“Then let’s find out.”
Official Document
The Magellan, Galactic Institute of Historical Preservation Starship.
Communication Records #PCR-998-2
Subject: Private Transmission between Dr. Niklas Phoenix and Dathan Phoenix.
“What the hell, Niklas!”
“Calm down, Dathan.”
“Calm down? You just told me you’re rejoining the Institute. The same Institute that screwed you over, tossed you out and has been running a black market antiquities ring.”
“It’s a long story, Dath—”
“Did the radiation of Earth melt your brain?”
“No. Look, I’ll tell you all about it when I get back.”
A period of silence. “Fine. I’m just glad you’re alive.” Another silence. “Is Darc alive?”
“Yes.”
“Bummer.”
Clearing of throat. “She’s actually coming to work for me at the Institute.”
“What?”
“Uh, and this is probably a good time to tell you that she’s also coming to live with me.”
Expulsion of breath. “Have you fucking lost your mind?” [Cursing redacted from record]
“Careful, Dathan. You’re talking about the woman I’m in love with.”
[More cursing]
“Dathan, look, we’ll talk when I get back. After you’ve calmed down.”
---
I hope you enjoyed Nik and Nera’s story!
The Phoenix Adventures continue with ON A BARBARIAN WORLD, the story of Phoenix cousin and deep-space scout, Aurina Phoenix and the sexy barbarian who claims her on the planet where she crash lands. On a Barbarian World will be out in Nov/Dec 2015.
If you’re looking for more action-packed, science fiction romance, then read on for a preview of MARCUS, Book 1 of the Hell Squad series.
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Preview – Hell Squad: Marcus
Her team was under attack.
Elle Milton pressed her fingers to her small earpiece. “Squad Six, you have seven more raptors inbound from the east.” Her other hand gripped the edge of her comp screen, showing the enhanced drone feed.
She watched, her belly tight, as seven glowing red dots converged on the blue ones huddled together in the burned-out ruin of an office building in downtown Sydney. Each blue dot was a squad member and one of them was their leader.
“Marcus? Do you copy?” Elle fought to keep her voice calm. No way she’d let them hear her alarm.
“Roger that, Elle.” Marcus’ gravelly voice filled her ear. Along with the roar of laser fire. “We see them.”
She sagged back in her chair. This was the worst part. Just sitting there knowing that Marcus and the others were fighting for their lives. In the six months she’d been comms officer for the squad, she’d worked hard to learn the ropes. But there were days she wished she was out there, aiming a gun and taking out as many alien raptors as she could.
You’re not a soldier, Ellianna. No, she was a useless party-girl-turned-survivor. She watched as a red dot disappeared off the screen, then another, and another. She finally drew a breath. Marcus and his team were the experienced soldiers. She’d just be a big fat liability in the field.
But she was a damn good comms officer.
Just then, a new cluster of red dots appeared near the team. She tapped the screen, took a measurement. “Marcus! More raptors are en route. They’re about one kilometer away. North.” God, would these invading aliens ever leave them alone?
“Shit,” Marcus bit out. Then he went silent.
She didn’t know if he was thinking or fighting. She pictured his rugged, scarred face creased in thought as he formulated a plan.
Then his deep, rasping voice was back. “Elle, we need an escape route and an evac now. Shaw’s been hit in the leg, Cruz is carrying him. We can’t engage more raptors.”
She tapped the screen rapidly, pulling up drone images and archived maps. Escape route, escape route. Her mind clicked through the options. She knew Shaw was taller and heavier than Cruz, but the armor they wore had slim-line exoskeletons built into them allowing the soldiers to lift heavier loads and run faster and longer than normal. She tapped the screen again. Come on. She needed somewhere safe for a Hawk quadcopter to set down and pick them up.
“Elle? We need it now!”
Just then her comp beeped. She looked at the image and saw a hazy patch of red appear in the broken shell of a nearby building. The heat sensor had detected something else down there. Something big.
Right next to the team.
She touched her ear. “Rex! Marcus, a rex has just woken up in the building beside you.”
“Fuck! Get us out of here. Now.”
Oh, God. Elle swallowed back bile. Images of rexes, with their huge, dinosaur-like bodies and mouths full of teeth, flashed in her head.
More laser fire ripped through her earpiece and she heard the wild roar of the awakening beast.
Block it out. She focused on the screen. Marcus needed her. The team needed her.
“Run past the rex.” One hand curled into a tight fist, her nails cutting into her skin. “Go through its hiding place.”
“Through its nest?” Marcus’ voice was incredulous. “You know how territorial they are.”
“It’s the best way out. On the other side you’ll find a railway tunnel. Head south along it about eight hundred meters, and you’ll find an emergency exit ladder that you can take to the surface. I’ll have a Hawk pick you up there.”
A harsh expulsion of breath. “Okay, Elle. You’ve gotten us out of too many tight spots for me to doubt you now.”
His words had heat creeping into her cheeks. His praise…it left her giddy. In her life BAI—before alien invasion—no one had valued her opinions. Her father, her mother, even her almost-fiancé, they’d all thought her nothing more than a pretty ornament. Hell, she had been a silly, pretty party girl.
And because she’d been inept, her parents were dead. Elle swallowed. A year had passed since that horrible night during the first wave of the alien attack, when their giant ships had appeared in the skies. Her parents had died that night, along with most of the world.
“Hell Squad, ready to go to hell?” Marcus called out.
“Hell, yeah!” the team responded. “The devil needs an ass-kicking!”
“Woo-hoo!” Another voice blasted through her headset, pulling her from the past. “Ellie, baby, this dirty alien’s nest stinks like Cruz’s socks. You should be here.”
A smile tugged at Elle’s lips. Shaw Baird always knew how to ease the tension of a life-or-death situation.
“Oh, yeah, Hell Squad gets the best missions,” Shaw added.
Elle watched the screen, her smile slipping. Everyone called Squad Six the Hell Squad. She was never quite sure if it was because they were hellions, or because they got sent into hell to do the toughest, dirtiest missions.
There was no doubt they were a bunch of rebels. Marcus had a rep for not following orders. Just the previous week, he’d led the squad in to destroy a raptor outpost but had detoured to rescue survivors huddled in an abandoned hospital that was under attack. At the debrief, the general’s yelling had echoed through the entire base. Marcus, as always, had been silent.
“Shut up, Shaw, you moron.” The deep female voice carried an edge.
Elle had decided there were two words that best described the only female soldier on Hell Squad—loner and tough. Claudia Frost was everything Elle wasn’t. Elle cleared her throat. “Just get yourselves back to base.”
As she listened to the team fight their way through the rex nest, she tapped in the command for
one of the Hawk quadcopters to pick them up.
The line crackled. “Okay, Elle, we’re through. Heading to the evac point.”
Marcus’ deep voice flowed over her and the tense muscles in her shoulders relaxed a fraction. They’d be back soon. They were okay. He was okay.
She pressed a finger to the blue dot leading the team. “The bird’s en route, Marcus.”
“Thanks. See you soon.”
She watched on the screen as the large, black shadow of the Hawk hovered above the ground and the team boarded. The rex was headed in their direction, but they were already in the air.
Elle stood and ran her hands down her trousers. She shot a wry smile at the camouflage fabric. It felt like a dream to think that she’d ever owned a very expensive, designer wardrobe. And heels—God, how long had it been since she’d worn heels? These days, fatigues were all that hung in her closet. Well-worn ones, at that.
As she headed through the tunnels of the underground base toward the landing pads, she forced herself not to run. She’d see him—them—soon enough. She rounded a corner and almost collided with someone.
“General. Sorry, I wasn’t watching where I was going.”
“No problem, Elle.” General Adam Holmes had a military-straight bearing he’d developed in the United Coalition Army and a head of dark hair with a brush of distinguished gray at his temples. He was classically handsome, and his eyes were a piercing blue. He was the top man in this last little outpost of humanity. “Squad Six on their way back?”
“Yes, sir.” They fell into step.
“And they secured the map?”
God, Elle had almost forgotten about the map. “Ah, yes. They got images of it just before they came under attack by raptors.”
“Well, let’s go welcome them home. That map might just be the key to the fate of mankind.”
They stepped into the landing areas. Staff in various military uniforms and civilian clothes raced around. After the raptors had attacked, bringing all manner of vicious creatures with them to take over the Earth, what was left of mankind had banded together.
Whoever had survived now lived here in an underground base in the Blue Mountains, just west of Sydney, or in the other, similar outposts scattered across the planet. All arms of the United Coalition’s military had been decimated. In the early days, many of the surviving soldiers had fought amongst themselves, trying to work out who outranked whom. But it didn’t take long before General Holmes had unified everyone against the aliens. Most squads were a mix of ranks and experience, but the teams eventually worked themselves out. Most didn’t even bother with titles and rank anymore.
