Sons of Lyra: Runaway Hearts

by Felicity Heaton

  The stewardess mentioned meals and then went to the door. He frowned when she pressed a button and a black shutter eased across the window. She explained that the shutters had to remain closed until they had left the atmosphere and then bowed before leaving the room.

  The door swished shut.

  He looked at the woman.

  She didn’t look happy to be alone with him. He walked towards her and she sat on the bench seat in front of the black window. He watched her long slender fingers work to untie the thick silver ribbons holding her cloak around her neck and was fascinated when she carefully folded it. He swallowed. The front of her dress was rather revealing. The material scooped low to show the curve of her breasts and met in a V in front of them. He tore his eyes away and looked at the display panel. It changed to show information about the ship. He focused there, forcing himself to read it so he wouldn’t stare at her. He’d been rude enough to her already without gawping at her like a naive boy.

  The ship shuddered and he held his arms out to steady himself.

  “What was that?” he said automatically, panic in his voice, and her look said everything.

  Now she knew that he’d never been on ship before, at least not one this size.

  “The engines,” she said in a soft voice. It held a smile.

  She thought he was green. His eyes fell to her breasts. Desire coiled tight inside him.

  By Iskara’s wings if she gave him half a chance he’d prove he wasn’t.

  She patted the seat beside her. “Sit. We’ll be taking off soon and the ride can get bumpy when the ship hits full speed.”

  “Sub-space?”

  She laughed at him and looked around the room. “A ship like this, with sub-space? Only a handful of ships have those engines and the capability to use them. This ship would be torn apart.”

  Now he really did look naive. He should’ve listened to his brothers more when they’d talked of ships. He should’ve asked all those questions he’d always wanted to. Silently cursing himself, he sat down beside her and frowned when she leaned across his lap. His eyes widened when he saw right down her top.

  “What are you—” He kept the panic from his voice but could do nothing to stop the stirring in his loins.

  “Relax. I just thought you might need help getting strapped in.” She clicked the safety belt across his waist and then reached over his shoulder.

  Her breasts brushed his arm. He closed his eyes and swallowed hard, willing himself not to look at them. He didn’t want to find out what she’d do if she caught him staring at her body. Another click and she moved again, away from him. Her arm grazed his neck, sending a shiver down his spine. He breathed deep through his nose to steady himself. The warm flowery scent of her filled his mind, wrapping him up as though her arms were around him, holding him. He tilted his head towards her, wanting more contact. Another click and she stilled.

  “I don’t know your name,” she whispered, incredibly close to his ear. Her breath was soft against his cheek.

  He swallowed again, harder this time, and tried to regain control of his senses and his body.

  “Sebastian,” he whispered back at her and opened his eyes. They met hers. They were as dark as his own, as black as deep space. They sparkled at him and he realised she was smiling.

  His eyes lowered to her mouth, to the sensual curve of her satin pink lips.

  “Terea,” she said and moved away, leaving him feeling bereft and confused.

  She strapped herself in while he fought to clear his head and gather himself. Questions crowded his mind, confusing him further. How had she made him feel so much by doing so little? Her proximity was enough to addle his senses. Her touch drove him out of his mind.

  Did she have some kind of power over men? Or was it just him?

  He stared down at the straps holding him in, restraining his shoulders and waist. What were these feelings?

  There was a lurching sensation, a jolt that made his stomach turn, and then a shudder that shook every bone in his body. He could almost feel the struggle as the engines and thrusters tried to lift the ship out of the dock. The force of them vibrated through him, sending his vision wobbling so much that he had to close his eyes. Everything in the room shook, rattling as loudly as his teeth as they hit against each other. He gritted them.

  Surely all take offs couldn’t be this rough. If they were, his brothers must have sterner stomachs than his own. If the shuddering continued much longer he was liable to lose what little dinner he’d eaten. He didn’t want that. It would perfectly complete the picture of naivety he’d so far painted himself as to the woman. Terea.

  He was surprised when she grabbed his hand, her fingers closing tight enough around it that it hurt. Her fingernails dug into his palm. He gritted his teeth against the pain too.

  The ship heaved and then a deafening roar filled his ears. He was thrown to the side, into Terea, as the engines kicked in and blasted them towards the atmosphere. Terea’s grip on his hand tightened and her other hand joined in. She made a small noise that sounded a lot like fear and he placed his other hand over them, completing the tangle. He held hers tightly, mostly to reassure her but partly to reassure himself too. In all the times he’d watched the ships taking off from the port, it had never looked so difficult. They had always eased up into the air with a chugging noise and drifted effortlessly into space. Perhaps it was just him romanticising what he saw. Maybe all large ships took this much effort to get into the air. From a distance it would be hard to tell.

  He opened his eyes when the juddering stopped and the rattling ceased. His stomach continued to turn, flipping over and over. He took deep breaths to settle it and looked at the shutter across the window. Were they through the atmosphere yet? He wished he could see. He wanted to see the stars as his brothers did. He wanted to see the moment they left daylight behind and broke through into eternal night.

  Terea’s grip on him loosened. He took one of his hands away but kept the other there, allowing her to hold it. He’d never had a woman hold his hand before. It was nice.

  Everything felt calm.

  He imagined that they were drifting out into space now, effortless and weightless.

  A shudder rocked the ship and the sound of the engines increased. Another lurch and he noticed the rise in speed. The whole ship seemed to jolt up and down, lunging all over the place.

  “I said it could be rough,” Terea said, her face buried against his arm.

  They must be reaching full speed as Terea had mentioned. He hoped it didn’t stay like this for the whole journey. He’d definitely be sick if it did.

  Her hand left his, stealing all the warmth away. She looked at him.

  “It won’t be long now. It will settle soon and then we can move around again.” There was a look in her eyes that he didn’t like. Not quite mischief but something close. It gave him the impression that if he let her leave the room, he’d never see her again.

  He couldn’t let that happen. He needed her to get him passage from Dliaer to wherever his next destination would be. He hadn’t paid attention to what she’d said to the woman at the port on Lyra Prime and he didn’t want to look like an idiot or wind up in the cargo class area of the ship.

  Besides, he was beginning to grow used to her company. He would even go as far as saying he liked having her around.

  The ship levelled out and he heard the click of her safety harness. She stood and stretched, reaching her arms out above her head. She looked paler than she had been before takeoff. He probably looked the same. He unclipped the straps holding him in and stood on wobbly legs. He could still feel the ship vibrating if he concentrated hard enough. Either that or he was imagining it.

  Terea went to the door. He was about to tell her not to leave when she pressed a button on the panel next to it and the shutters across the window opened, revealing the darkness of space.

  He stared out of the window, watching Lyra Prime disappearing into the distance. The sun peeked over
the disc of it. It was breathtaking. He sensed Terea come to stand next to him but didn’t look at her. He couldn’t take his eyes off the scene outside. He could see cloud formations hundreds of miles wide and the crystal blue oceans that lapped golden and green continents. It looked nothing like it had done in the books. It was so much more beautiful.

  When it drifted into the distance, becoming too small to be interesting, he looked around to see what else space had to offer. Another planet blurred past and then another. Lyra Five. Its oceans were darker than Lyra Prime’s and the land was swathed with deep green. It was stunning.

  The next planet passed, this one surrounded by space stations and crowded with ships coming in and out of them. It was Lyra Six. A pleasure planet. His parents had arranged for some of the planet’s foremost women to attend to him once for his twenty-first birthday. It had been a night he’d never forget.

  His attention drifted across to Terea. Something told him that he’d never forget a night spent with her. It wasn’t something he’d been looking for on this trip, but then he’d never expected to find himself with such a beautiful woman. She was watching him and not the world outside. He wondered what she was thinking.

  Terea reached out with her mind, touching his lightly enough that he wouldn’t notice the intrusion. His mind felt red and warm, full of wicked thoughts that she knew were about her. His eyes told her that. Whatever he was thinking, it was dirty.

  Other than his desire, his feelings ran along lines of fascination and contentment, even excitement. She’d already figured out that this was his first time off-planet. For someone who had looked so worldly at first, he was fast beginning to appear sheltered.

  She glanced at the door and then back at him. The lust in his eyes had been replaced by intrigue. When she’d gone to the door to open the shutters across the panoramic window, she’d sensed his tension and anxiety. He’d been relieved when she’d returned to him.

  He knew she wanted to leave.

  Something told her that he’d stop her if she tried to.

  She was going to have to find a way to get away from him. He’d served his purpose and, now that she had passage to another system, she had to cut ties with him. She’d had it with men. Her father’s bringing her to Lyra Prime when he’d said they were en route to Varka had been the last straw. Now she’d felt the wind of freedom in her hair she didn’t want to go back. She never wanted to go back.

  “You look as though you need to relax,” she said and smiled sweetly to disarm him. His feelings calmed again. “How about I order a few drinks and then the galaxy will seem even more beautiful?”

  He looked out of the window. “It’s already beautiful.”

  He was at that. Her eyes traced the line of his profile—his smooth forehead, straight nose and subtle curve of his lips, down to his defined jaw. The dirt still covered him, but she no longer saw it. She cursed herself for her female weakness and went to the panel on the wall.

  Her fingers danced across it, taking her deeper into the menu of food and drink available on the ship. She smiled when she found what she was looking for and didn’t hesitate before pressing the image to request it. A few glasses of this and he’d be on his back and she could escape.

  She heard him walk across the room and turned her head to see him disappear into the bathroom. The door closed. She thought nothing of it and went to the window. It had been a bumpy takeoff after all. There’d been several moments when she’d been convinced she’d lose what little food she had in her stomach. She frowned and then went back to the panel, selecting some items from the food menu. If she was going to get him to drink then she’d have to drink too. With an empty stomach, she’d be drunk before he was.

  Satisfied with her selections, she returned to the window and looked out of it.

  He’d said it was beautiful.

  She traced patterns in the bright stars, joining them together with her eyes. She couldn’t recognise any of the constellations from this angle. They all looked strange and it made her feel cold and alone, as though she had gone to a completely different universe rather than system. She never would’ve been happy on Lyra Prime. It was too different. The people, the cities, even the air. Even the stars. What had her father been thinking?

  The man, Sebastian, stepped out of the bathroom just as she sat down on the long padded seat. His cloak was gone, revealing a crisp white shirt and tight black trousers. Her eyes ran up the length of him, over a body that she could tell was toned beneath his clothes. Whoever he was, he took good care of himself. She’d noticed his hands weren’t rough when she’d been holding them. If he worked, it wasn’t manual labour. Her gaze reached his face. He’d washed the dirt off and preened his black hair. The short tendrils of it were tangled and pushed back, curling around each other. His eyes bore into hers, dark and alluring. She hadn’t thought it possible for him to be more handsome without the dirt, but he was.

  The door panel buzzed and a female voice came over it. They were speaking Lyran. She thanked Arkus for the reminder that she was with a Lyran and went to the door. For a moment, she’d been about to speak her native tongue.

  She opened the door and smiled, bowing her head in greeting to the stewardess on the other side. The stewardess pushed a large silver floating tray into the room. She pressed a button on the wall and the floor opened to allow a table to rise up. It hovered a foot above the ground, perfectly still, as though it had legs. The stewardess placed the bottle, glasses and food onto the table and then left with the tray.

  Terea closed the door and looked at the man. He was staring at the table. He lowered himself onto the long seat in front of the window and stretched his arms out across the back of it, his legs crossing.

  His eyes flicked to her.

  “I thought we could have a drink... it’s a wonderful spirit. It will settle both our stomachs and help the time pass more quickly.” She gave him a coy smile, fluttering her lashes a little to lure him in. She felt like adding that she’d been trained well by her family. She knew the best wines and spirits, and how to check the quality of most foods in the galaxy.

  He looked over his shoulder, out of the window.

  What had happened to the man from earlier? He was different now. There was such confidence about him, such power. His quiet reserve and air made her feel as though she was nothing more than a servant girl, vying for his attention. Why had he changed? The man in front of her now showed no trace of the excitement and fear she’d sensed earlier. She didn’t know which she preferred—the confident dashing man, or the naive handsome one.

  This one felt more dangerous.

  She felt as though she couldn’t deceive him, no matter how much alcohol was involved.

  She felt attracted to him.

  She gathered her scattered feelings and opened the dark blue bottle. She kneeled on the floor while she poured the ruby red liquid into the two small glasses and then rose to her feet with little effort and all the grace of her training. He was watching her. She could sense his interest. He wasn’t curious. He wasn’t intrigued by the drink. All that interest was directed at her. She sat softly next to him at an angle with her knees close to his. She placed her drink down on the table and offered his to him, holding it by the rim with two fingers and touching the bottom of it with two fingers of her other hand as she presented it.

  He stared at it and then at her. She held her smile, extending the drink towards him.

  His fingers brushed hers as he took it, sending a shiver through her that she couldn’t ignore. She turned away to conceal her blush and picked up her own glass.

  Facing him again, she raised her glass and knocked it against his.