“Yes, sir.”
Ram felt pressure on his upper chest and heard the distinctive schlott of an inoculator. A hand patted his shoulder. “Should be feeling like a human in a minute or two, fella.”
Ram lay as still as possible and waited for the drugs to kick in. “What happened?” He didn’t recognize the croak as his voice.
“You held an 88K to the head of Lieutenant Commander Garner and demanded he set the ship down while interphazar cannons pounded your ass. Since Sergeant Luv’elle didn’t want to die like that, he hit you with a pulse emitter. You took a full stun.” The male voice paused for a moment. “They make us experience that in boot camp. The hangover will make you puke your guts.”
“Where am I?”
“Med-bay, aboard the LFP cruiser Foray, outward bound to Verdantia.” Again the hand patted his shoulder. “Relax and enjoy the ride, buddy. As soon as you can walk, I’ve orders to escort you to the brig. After the stunt you pulled on the away team on the transport shuttle, Capt’n doesn’t trust you.”
A couple of hours later, Ram knew that his cell was four steps by six steps and if he stretched out diagonally, he could do pushups. A narrow cot lined one wall with a flip down sink and commode in the opposite corner. A clear force field gave him a view of the other side of the corridor but otherwise all he saw was metal wall plate, rivets and grey paint. Since the view of the other side of the corridor was metal wall plate, rivets and grey paint, he didn’t have much variety.
He decided after four days that he had died and lived in some metal-walled version of the seven hells. The worst part was not the boredom. It was his imagination. Over and over he remembered the firefight and agonized over Steffania’s fate. Had she hidden until the LFP invaded? Had Narr captured her? Ram imagined what Narr might do to her – and he had an excellent imagination. The scenarios he envisioned gutted him. What if Narr mind-wiped her? Hell’s breath, I hope Tok got her out. But, the GAPS agent had his own agenda and no matter how kindly he viewed the Verdantians, he’d put that first.
During the endless nights, when Ramsey could sleep, he dreamed of her. In unconscious sleep, his body sought her place in the bed next to him and he awakened when he crashed into the cold metal deck. As he lay on his back staring at the ceiling only the vibrating throb of the deck reminded him he was aboard the Foray and not enduring some hellish afterlife. Not much difference at this point.
He swore to himself as soon as he got to Verdantia, he would beg, borrow or steal a ship and go back for Steffania – and hope and pray that she remained the tempestuous, volatile beauty with whom he had fallen in love. And he did love her. He knew he didn’t deserve her. He had no illusions about that. But he was too selfish to care anymore. Whatever it took, he was keeping her and he’d move heaven and hell to make her happy.
As he lay in his bunk day after day, a cold anger built within him toward Ari DeTano. It almost rivaled his hatred of himself for insisting Steffania accompany him. The Verdantian High Lord should never have sent any woman to a planet like Vxloncia. Never. Ramsey made himself another promise. Ari DeTano would suffer some of the pain Ramsey Melborn DeKieran felt.
Ramsey had been working through martial exercises to keep fit when he noticed a cessation of sound and vibration. The engines had stopped. He straightened from the one-legged crouch he had been maintaining when the same orderly who had been bringing his meals stopped in front of his cell.
“We have docked at the Verdantian port of Arkodaenia. We’ve been instructed to hold you for High Lord DeTano.” The young man created an opening in the force shield and passed a shaving kit to Ram. “Thought you might want to look like something other than a space renegade for that interview.”
“Thanks.” Ram nodded and took the wrapped items. “How long?”
“Before DeTano is here?”
Ram nodded.
“Not long. We transmitted our ETA when we left Vxloncian orbit. Lady Alessa DeAlbero has already disembarked. She wanted to thank you in person but your medicos hustled her out so quickly there wasn’t time. So, on behalf of Lady DeAlbero, ‘thanks’.”
Ramsey grunted and asked the same question he’d asked the orderly every time he’d seen him. “Any news?” He kept hoping to hear that Narr had been shut down and Steffania was on her way home.
The young orderly eyed him with sympathy but shook his head. “’fraid not. Sorry. Still no Vxloncian updates – which we’ve heard at any rate.”
Ram held up the shaving kit. “Well, thanks for this.”
The young orderly grinned. “Anytime.”
~ ~ ~
Ram had his back to the force shield while he shaved off the remnants of his beard. He heard a low buzz and then a familiar voice.
“Good job getting back with Lady DeAlbero. Here is your pardon, signed, as promised.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Ramsey saw a scroll bounce on his bunk. Ram splashed water on his face, wiped it with a towel and then threw the towel into the sink. He propped on the rim of the basin then straightened and turned.
Ari DeTano had released the force shield and was the only thing standing between Ramsey and freedom.
“Have you heard anything about Captain Rickard?” Ram eyed Ari and watched DeTano return his examination. Ram suspected DeTano read as much from his face as Ramsey read from Ari’s – nothing.
“You look like hell, Lord DeKieran. No. No word. I’ve been in contact with the LFP. They have implemented a planet-wide search for Captain Rickard. We will find her.”
Ram grunted in acknowledgment. He took the rolled cylinder off the bed and stowed it carefully in the inside pocket of his jacket. He stepped to within a few inches of DeTano and drove the full force of his body behind a punch to the man’s face. Ari staggered back until stopped by the corridor wall. He crumpled down the mental plate to a sitting position and put his hand to his jaw.
“Hells, DeKieran. What the fuck?”
“That was for Steffania. You should never have let her step foot on Vxloncia.”
Ramsey mindlessly shouldered his way through ship crewmen as he left the Foray and tromped down the gangway. In another few steps, he would blend with the thousands milling through the busy port of Arkodaenia. Determination to find the port master and hire a ship to return to Vxloncia spurred him on as if it were a matter of life or death. For him, it was. He had promised his vixen he would come back for her and he was going to keep his promise. What he would say to her when he found her was another matter entirely. How could he convince her he couldn’t live without her? He had left her behind to face almost certain death – or worse.
“Verdantian. In your haste to leave Vxloncia, you left some valuables behind. I retrieved them for you.”
Ram stopped dead and turned. The huge Khlossian leaned against a nearby wall and grinned at him. Ram’s preoccupation had been such that he’d walked right by the behemoth. How could I have missed him? He choked out the words. “Where is she?”
Tok aimed a kind look his way. “Sorry, Verdantian. Not here. She and the little female, Pansy, are in a CP-recovery center on Talleo IV.”
“A recovery center? Was she...?” His worst fears flooded him and a weight settled in his chest.
Tok straightened from the wall. “Narr dumped her into a CP bed, but she hadn’t been there long before Angelica—she whom you called Pansy—disabled the program. Come. Your port-master is tired of my empty ship taking up valuable slip space. And I am tired of haunting every arrival gangway in this piss-ant, backwater port. Let’s go get your woman.”
As Ramsey followed Tok to his ship’s docking slip, he swiped the heel of his hand at the suspicious moisture gathering in his eyes. Shit. His relief unmanned him. “Tok?” The Khlossian grunted but kept walking. “Did you get Narr?”
Tok’s grinding chuckle resounded in the air. “A good story, Verdantian. You will enjoy it and it’s best told over a bottle of spirits. Come.”
~ ~ ~
The past three weeks, shoe-horned
with Tok into what amounted to a personal runabout, strained Ramsey’s frayed disposition. But his gratitude to the behemoth was such that he held his temper and his tongue under vicious restraint. It made for some stilted conversation, but Tok never lost his affable manner. Though the days stretched ten years long, they finally arrived on Talleo IV.
“Well, Verdantian, I wish you and your woman good fortune. Try not to be stupid.” Tok grinned at Ramsey.
“Yeah. Thanks for this. I, ah...yeah. Just thanks. If there is ever anything I can . . .” Ram scratched his head and fumbled for words, insanely anxious to be gone yet realizing the life-debt he owed Tok. He had no doubt the Khlossian had saved Steffania’s life.
Tok rumbled into laughter. “Go, Verdantian. Find your woman.” Ramsey didn’t wait to be told twice.
Ram caught a public aero-pod to the Estonian Center for Advanced Neurological Research. He tried not to appear ill-at-ease as the craft soared around spears of bizarre architecture that disappeared into purple skies. He might have managed better had the vehicle not been transparent. He kept reminding himself that he wasn’t going to fall, the plex-glass, or whatever it was, would hold him. Only his stomach’s protests as they rose and fell in elevation and the evidence of his eyes told him they moved. It was a vast remove from his horse—no wind, no jolting, no smells of hot horse or man. Once again, a hi-tech civilization bombarded him with alien conveniences and constructs. Someone ought to standardize how to flush a fucking toilet. Well, at least they had toilets. On Verdantia, the facilities were frequently whatever shrubbery was nearby.
Now he stood at the vast, marble reception desk at the medical center and waited for Steffania’s attending physician. Not a blood or legal relation, Ram required approval to visit Steffania.
His matte-black combat attire drew curious glances and it occurred to Ram an attempt to blend in might have been a worthy effort. But where would I have gotten the clothes? The exotic receptionist had eyed his martial apparel and sniffed dismissively. His eyes strayed to the elegant, sophisticated-looking personages striding by. Not a chance in the seven hells, you’d fit in, DeKieran, no matter how you’re decked out. He felt like a grizzled fell wolf in the midst of pampered house pets. Well, I shaved. I’m clean. I don’t think I smell. He resisted the temptation to check. What more can you want?
“Leilani, can you point out who was asking to see my patient?” a familiar voice spoke from near the receptionist’s desk behind him.
Ramsey turned to see the white-uniformed medica who spoke with the receptionist. His astonishment left him speechless. Pansy? It’s Pansy! She had her face buried in a holo-grid or she would certainly have seen him.
“Pansy?”
She turned in surprise. “Dominus!”
Her violet eyes glowed up at him with pure pleasure and her smile split her face. “I told her you would come.”
~ ~ ~
Ramsey walked beside Pansy/Angelica on a pave-stone path that meandered through the green gardens of the advanced medical care facility. Sr. Medica Angelica Giverny – not Pansy.
There she is, Dominus, um, Lord DeKieran.” Sr. Medica Giverny blushed. “It is hard to remember not to . . .”
A smile quirked the corner’s of Ram’s mouth. “Yes. I have stopped myself from calling you ‘Pansy’ at least five times in the last half-hour. You took me by surprise. All Tok said was that the two of you were in the facility. He neglected to tell me you were on staff.”
Angelica smiled with a self-deprecating shrug. “Remember what I told you, sir. No matter how she reacts, she has longed for you. She asked for you repeatedly during her subconscious therapy sessions.” The sliver of a medica patted his arm. “Good luck.” Angelica beamed at him and then turned away and walked toward the large buildings that hemmed the private gardens.
Ram stood for a moment and watched her depart then his eyes returned to the courageous redhead. He had no idea what to say, no idea how to approach her. He only knew the black hole that had opened in his life when he’d thought her lost to him. Hells, DeKieran, grow a set...just get on with it.
He walked up the path toward the low, stone bench where she sat gazing across a mossy-green, tranquil, pond. Occasionally, an aquatic creature broke the surface but otherwise, all was peaceful. She wore some shapeless, puke-green, hospital gown. Her clouds of fiery hair fell about her shoulders in disarray. She looked...fragile, delicate...and indescribably beautiful. He stopped some feet away, not wanting to startle her, suddenly unsure of his reception.
“Hello, vixen.”
Steffania straightened and turned on the bench to face him. A small gasp left her lips and she stood, covering her mouth with her hand.
The open joy on her face loosened something wound tightly inside him. He opened his arms in invitation. “Come, sweetheart.”
“Ramsey!” she sobbed, and raced to him.
He gathered her into a tight embrace and pressed long, desperate kisses on her mouth and face – trying to tell her of his love in the only language he was certain of. He held the length of her against him, grinding his hard cock into her, running his hands continually over her back and buttocks. Steffania finally pushed her upper torso away, laughing and crying at the same time. She swiped the tears off her face as he held her close, pressing her abdomen into his erection, letting her feel what she did to him – what she always did to him.
“You really are a horny bastard, aren’t you, DeKieran?” She laughed tremulously and then whispered, “I was afraid you wouldn’t come.”
With astonishment, he watched his hands tremble as his fingers pushed locks of disordered hair off her face. He needed a moment before he could meet her gaze. His eyes would betray his love for her, his need for her. By the gods, he hoped so. Now that the moment was upon him, the words to tell her what was in his heart lodged frozen in his throat.
He gazed over her head sightlessly and murmured, “Happily for you, I’m a possessive, horny bastard.” His gaze dropped and joined with hers. Her lovely golden eyes shone with a wealth of feeling glorious to behold. “I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner,” he said quietly. “I...ah...ran into some difficulties.”
Tears swam in the luminous eyes that met his. She bit her lower lip and her chin trembled fiercely before she got out the words. “Tok’s been to visit. He told me the radio chatter lit up about this berserk Verdantian. I heard you nearly wrecked the landing transport and spent the entire trip back to Verdantia in an LFP brig. Did you really hold your K-88 to the transport commander’s head?” He winced, then nodded. She sniffed in mock severity. “Idiot.” She pulled her hands to his chest, straightened the front of his battle jacket, tucked it underneath his shirt collar and then rested her forehead against him. “It gave me hope that you cared.”
Ram tightened his hold on the impossibly precious woman in his arms. “I will always come for you.”
She looked up at him and, with a watery chuckle, admonished, “Don’t leave it so late next time.”
As Ramsey studied her features, the impact of how near he had come to losing this woman forever slammed home and suddenly the words didn't seem at all hard to say.
“There won’t be a next time. I’m not letting you out of my sight. I love you, vixen.”
“I love you, too. Oh, Ramsey! I love you, too,” she choked. She surged up into him and wrapped ardent arms around his neck. She gripped him tighter and tighter.
He leaned down and swept her into his arms.
“Tell me again,” she said.
Ram pretended confusion. “Tell you what again?”
“Ramsey!” Her closed fist struck his chest and he laughed freely.
“I love you, vixen.”
“Again.”
“I love you. Vixen.”
Her red hair fell in tumbled splendor over his arm and she looked up at him radiantly as he carried her toward the medical buildings. Ram searched his memory to identify the alien emotion overwhelming him. Joy. The emotion was joy. He pressed his face int
o the hand that caressed his cheek and kissed her palm.
With a sigh of contentment, Steffania snuggled into him. “Did DeTano make good on the pardon?”
A warm satisfaction pervaded him when he recalled the last time he’d seen Ari DeTano. “Yes.”
“Oh.”
Ram stopped at the tone of Steffania’s voice and let her feet touch the ground. He held her away from him slightly, grasping her upper arms. “You sound disappointed.” Didn’t she want him pardoned?
She gave a chuff of laughter. “Well, I was going to offer you the protection of my name and make an honest man out of you.”
Surprise ambushed a laugh from him. Slinging her over his shoulder, he sauntered along the stone path, slapping her buttocks smartly when she gurgled a protesting, “Ramsey! Put me down!”
“Silence, woman. It’s far too late to make me an honest man and you will marry me anyway.”
Chapter Nineteen
Four months since reclaiming Steffania from Talleo IV, Lord Ramsey DeKieran, Fifteenth Earl of House DeKieran, walked across the stone courtyard toward the entrance to his sprawling manor. His family seat had undergone extensive renovation and refurbishment to restore it to the welcoming residence he remembered from childhood.
The staggering amount of money it took to accomplish the transformation in such a short time derived from an unexpected source. His shock had been total when a transfer of millions in universal credits appeared in his account two months after the Games – from The Galactic Network of Adult Entertainment. His surprise increased when a substantial amount had arrived in the months thereafter – royalties for Savage Sexual Practices of Primal Males—Dominion Games XIV Edition, Track One: Bound Into Submission.
Ram still hadn’t figured a way to tell Steffania she need never work again because of the viral popularity of their sex vid. So far, he had plans to tell her, ah, never. Yeah, never sounds good. Am I delusional to hope she won’t hear of it? Ram cringed inwardly, imagining that conversation.
Hers To Cherish (Verdantia Book 3) Page 20
