Ven opened his eyes and nodded. “More than I’ve ever loved anyone. And I know that’s scary, and I’m just going to freak you out—”
But Journeyman Engineer Hawthorne always had a way of surprising him. He never even had the chance to finish his admittedly melodramatic speech. She caressed his cheek and closed the space between them. As her lips brushed his, she wrapped her fingers in his hair and urged him closer. For once, he didn’t care if she noticed just how turned on he was.
Liv pulled her lips away from his and brought them to his ear, teasing, “It’s been a while, so don’t make me wait any longer.”
Ven laughed and arched an eyebrow at her. “You really want to compare notes here? I’m in a three centuries dry-spell.”
Liv blinked at him. Perhaps that had been far funnier in his mind, and it should have stayed there. Maybe he should have just picked her up and brought her to his bed and done exactly as she’d asked.
How could a being as infinitely intelligent as him be so stupid at times?
But Liv slowly smiled at him and laced her arms behind his neck. “I’ll let you win this one, Vengeance. But don’t expect to come out on top in the future.”
Ven blinked back at her. “Are we still talking about arguments?”
Her smile turned sly, and she tilted her head at him. “Perhaps you should find out.”
He wasn’t really stupid.
Ven slipped his arm beneath her legs and lifted her from the ground, carrying her to his bedroom, which he didn’t even technically need. But in this moment, there was nothing he needed more. As he carefully lowered her onto his bed, she pulled at his shirt and lifted it over his head.
He ran his fingers slowly beneath her tank top, and for the second time since she’d showed up at his door, he worried that so much of his attention would be diverted to this moment, these sensations, and the physical and emotional ecstasy of finally allowing himself to openly love again, that his entire ship would become vulnerable. Somehow, his drudges continued their work, and his sentinels continued their security details.
But his mind was devoted to her.
Liv ran her hands down his chest until they reached the snaps on his pants, but she paused and lifted one hand to touch his face. “I love you,” she whispered. “I should have told you before. I tried to stop it. I tried to pretend it didn’t exist, that we didn’t belong to one another, but we do. There’s no running from it. I’d always come back to you.”
Ven brushed her hair away from her face and promised her, “No matter what happens, I’ll cross this universe to find you again.”
Liv slid her body beneath his and smiled up at him. “If anyone even thinks they can take me away from you, they’ll find out why we’re both the last people in the universe anyone should fuck with.”
“Just when I think I can’t possibly love you more,” he laughed.
Liv’s smile turned seductive, and she placed her hand on his chest and suddenly pushed him onto his back then straddled him, letting her hair fall around her beautiful face. Not much surprised him anymore, not after three millennia, but he was not only surprised by her sudden decision to take charge but absolutely certain he’d never been so damn horny in his life.
“Remember when I told you I’m only good at two things?” she asked. “And chess wasn’t one of them?”
“Clearly,” he agreed.
“I lied,” she said. “There are actually three things.”
“Um…” Ven fumbled, “if my neural pathways suddenly get fried, you can fix that, right?”
Liv laughed and tossed her hair over a shoulder. “I guess we’ll find out.”
It may have been terribly selfish of him, but even if he really believed he risked serious or permanent damage to his primary core, he wouldn’t have stopped. He wouldn’t have asked her to leave, and he wouldn’t have made different decisions. His life, his future, had to reside in this moment because it wasn’t just sex and this burning physical desire.
This moment existed as a transformation for them both—his willingness to be vulnerable again, to love her and allow the possibility of heartbreak back into his life, and her willingness to trust him, to try to move on from the horrors of her past so she could embark on some new destination with him even though he wasn’t human.
And for both of them, there was no going back.
He would devote the rest of his life to Olivia Hawthorne. And he would die to give her the life she deserved.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Liv kept pace with Vengeance’s drone as they made their way to the newly repaired bridge. He’d decided that since she was his Acting Telepath, she should report to the bridge every morning with him, even though she hated the daily briefings.
Most of the senior staff still eyed her with suspicion, and after so many years of hiding her telepathy, their knowledge of what she could do unsettled her. Usually, they quickly went back to their own work, largely ignoring the young woman at Ven’s side.
But as she’d left Ven’s room that morning, still half-asleep and groggy from lack of sleep, she’d run into two engineers working on repairs down the hall. She hadn’t thought much of it until she’d already showered and reached the mess hall then remembered just how fast gossip could fly.
The entire crew seemed to be whispering about her romance, and those whispers only stopped when Ven’s physical presence reminded them that his ears were all over this ship.
She’d eaten in record time then fled the mess hall, only to run into Vengeance’s drone in the hall.
“Um,” he offered. “I know I promised and all, but I’m not so sure I can stop these rumors.”
Liv glanced over her shoulder at the crewmembers hunched over their trays, their hushed conversations suggesting they continued to add titillating and maybe even fictitious tidbits to their stories.
“It’s not your fault,” Liv said as they turned down another corridor. “Gossip flies faster than any warship. The crew was bound to find out. At least this time the rumors are based in fact.”
The drone grinned sheepishly at her. “Actually, it is my fault. I knew the engineers were there. I just figured that since the rumors about us were already in circulation…”
Liv laughed and rolled her eyes at him. “You’re so damned honest.”
“I’m glad you’re not angry with me. I’m also glad you’re okay with the crew knowing.”
“Hm,” Liv teased. “It would take a lot more than this to make me angry after last night.”
“Oh?” His sheepish grin morphed into one of pride.
“Hey,” Liv laughed again, stopping in the hallway so she could plant her hands on her hips. “Remember that whole ‘I’m not really human’ thing and my insistence that you’re a hell of a lot more human than you realize? This is one of those moments you don’t have to be quite so… normal.”
Ven lifted an eyebrow at her and shot back, “Normal? I went from sex god to normal?”
“Are you sure your primary core is big enough to contain your ego after all this?”
“Probably not,” he agreed. “But now that everybody knows…” He leaned down to kiss her neck, but the ship-wide comm activated with a slight hiss they hadn’t been able to fix yet.
“The Aurora deep-reach relay station has picked up four incoming hostile vessels on approach. Aurora is requesting immediate assistance from any Spire ships within range.”
Vengeance fell silent, likely communicating with his escort ships. “Valor, Dispatch, Acheron, Broadsword, Raven, and Chieftain will proceed to Aurora and neutralize the threat. Citadel and I will continue on to Teutorigos.”
The voice over the comm was cool and emotionless, but his drone curled his fingers into fists. He needed a chance to strike back at their enemies and wanted it so badly, Liv felt his turbulent emotions even outside of their link.
“Vengeance, are you okay?” she asked quietly. It was a stupid question. Of course he wasn’t okay—neither of them were. They both wa
nted to fight, but there was no way to reach the battle that didn’t involve her linking with him.
“I have my orders,” he sighed. “We’re to continue on to Spire command.”
Liv nodded, but she was oddly conflicted about his orders to proceed to Teutorigos. He wouldn’t put her in danger or force her to link with them just for the chance to pursue the rogues. And while she wanted the chance to pursue revenge against Bas, she never wanted to encounter him again either.
Ven gestured in the direction of the bridge and began walking again, his sultry teasing and kiss forgotten. Their escort ships had all been briefed on what the rogues were capable of, and those warships should be able to defeat the enemy with minimal loss of life. Vengeance’s fellow warships just had to get to Aurora before the rogues got there first.
On the bridge, Liv discovered she wasn’t going to have to sit through a boring briefing after all. The crew busily ran diagnostics and double-checked all Vengeance’s systems for battle readiness. While Vengeance might have orders to continue to Teutorigos, clearly Welner wasn’t taking any chances.
Better than anyone, Liv understood rogues, and she couldn’t blame Welner for wanting to make sure they were ready… just in case. Liv glanced around the bridge and found an empty corner to wait in where she wouldn’t get in anyone’s way. The Spire ships were already in transit, but it would still be a long, agonizing wait to learn the outcome of the battle at Aurora.
So it surprised her when Vengeance’s ship-wide comms buzzed again only minutes later.
“The Greenmantle terraforming company reports that the colony of Nebula is under attack and requesting immediate assistance,” Ven reported.
Nebula was within kissing distance of Vengeance’s present location, meaning he was the closest Warship of the Spire.
“It’s a trap, Ven,” Liv told him.
“I know,” his drone agreed.
She’d been so distracted, she’d missed his drone’s approach. He stood shoulder to shoulder with her as he observed the activity on his bridge. While she valued his stoic support, she also appreciated that he didn’t reach out to take her hand or put an arm around her shoulders. He wasn’t interested in coddling her or belittling her fear even though he could read her bio-signs easily.
She glanced up at him and whispered a quiet thanks.
He gave her a quick nod before his ship-wide came online again. “Citadel is proceeding to Nebula. Brenna is already en route. And Void, Catalyst, and Wrecker are being dispatched from Teutorigos.”
“How far out is Brenna?” Liv asked, her stomach churning uneasily.
“ETA, thirty-three minutes.”
“None of them will make it in time.”
“No.”
“What’s the population on Nebula?” Not that it mattered. Even one more life destroyed by a rogue was one too many.
“It’s a young colony,” Ven answered, “but already home to thirty thousand civilians and one governing AI.”
Liv glanced down at her hands. “How many rogues is Citadel about to face?”
“Three, according to Greenmantle. There could be more out of range of their scanners.”
Vengeance needed to join the battle if Citadel had any hope of succeeding. And this time, she would have to serve as his link on her own.
Liv stood up straighter and took a deep breath. “Vengeance-0115-343, Neit Class Warship of the Spire, make yourself battle ready and prepare to initiate link with Hayley-016, Spire-sanctioned, enhanced Nuallan telepath.”
Ven blinked at her in surprise but responded, “Vengeance recognizes Link Hayley’s authorization. Ready to initiate link at your order. Transit drives coming online.”
“What the hell is going on?” Captain Welner shouted.
Distantly, Liv noticed three of Vengeance’s sentinels blocking the captain as Vengeance explained the situation to the bridge crew. Liv ignored them. The only thing that seemed important now was the emotions flickering across the drone’s face. Eagerness. Regret. Fear. Hope. He hid nothing from her.
Captain Welner stormed over to Liv and demanded, “Are you really what he says?”
“Yes,” Liv assured him. “Vengeance, please bring up a comm’s channel to Citadel.”
“Citadel and I are synced,” Vengeance said as an energy web in the center of the room flashed with color and Citadel’s bridge came into focus. “He’s presently engaged in battle.”
Citadel’s drone appeared on screen, his expression devoid of all emotion as he reported to Vengeance. “I’ve managed to draw the rogues away from Nebula for the moment. It won’t last long. I’m already taking damage. Presently, I’m jumping in and out of transit before they can get a good lock on my telepaths, but the rogues are trying to incapacitate them like you said they would.”
“Your telepaths are still unharmed?” Liv asked.
Citadel looked momentarily surprised that she was directly addressing him, but he answered anyway. “Yes. For now. By my current estimate, less than twenty percent of the colony will be evacuated before I’m crippled and neutralized. If you have any ideas, share them now. I need to transit again. One of the rogues is locking onto my link.”
“Wait!” Liv yelled. “Order all your telepaths to merge with each other. Do it now!”
Citadel looked surprised again, but he didn’t waste time questioning her order. Over the hive-sync, Liv felt the moment Citadel issued the command to his telepaths. A few seconds of adrenaline-filled silence passed while the telepaths merged their individual gifts into a shaky, but stronger, whole. Once they had a stable merge, Liv reached along Vengeance’s and Citadel’s hive-sync and joined her strength to the other telepaths.
“What are you doing?” Citadel’s startled comment made several of his bridge crew pale in fear. “What are you?”
Liv ignored him because she didn’t have time to explain. Willing or not, she had to shape his telepaths into a fighting unit. Once she had them bound together with a strong telepathic connection, she addressed Citadel’s link.
“Easy, Link Miranda,” Liv whispered across the void of space. “I know this is strange and you have no reason to trust me, but I am one of the surviving enhanced Nuallan telepaths. I’m here to help you.”
Miranda’s fear slowly retracted, replaced by a fierce determination to save her fellow telepaths and the AI she served. “I’m listening, Link Olivia.”
Liv smiled even though Miranda couldn’t see her. “Good, because I’m about to show you how to kill an AI.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
With the efficiency that could only be achieved using telepathy, it took mere moments to impart enough of Liv’s knowledge to the other telepaths so they could have a chance at surviving a rogue’s mental attacks. Whether they would have the strength and fortitude to attempt to cripple an enemy AI remained to be seen.
Thankfully, Citadel’s link was a calm, unflappable woman, and she was almost as strong as Renee had been. After Miranda had received enough of Liv’s memories to understand what was going on, she’d done what she could to reassure her AI and the other telepaths under her charge then shared Liv’s knowledge with the younger telepaths.
Once their task was complete, Liv severed the connection with Citadel’s telepaths and told Vengeance he could disengage from the hive-sync. “Citadel and his crew now have a fighting chance at survival until we get there.”
“I’m battle ready,” Ven’s drone said softly.
“Then let’s go kill these bastards,” she told him. Steeling her spine, she allowed her telepathy to expand out, reaching for Vengeance. His emotions and thoughts flowed all around hers, but she hesitated to make that last, short leap. “Please initiate the link with me.”
“Liv…”
“Just do it, Ven! Lives are on the line.”
Ven obeyed and initiated the link. Suddenly, he was all around her, invading her mind from every direction. His regret and concern for her washed through her mind, as well as his love, and his desire to sav
e the colonists and aid his Spire brother in arms. He hadn’t wanted to make Liv do this. But he had no choice.
This time, it was Vengeance who hesitated.
“It’s all right, Ven,” Liv assured him, realizing it was the truth as she linked with Vengeance.
His joy at her mental touch cleansed her worries for a few moments.
“Preparing to transit,” he said, both aloud and in her mind. His powerful elation was impossible to miss. He was once again doing what he’d been born to: an old warship still useful to his people.
His main drives kicked them into transit then the full attention of a powerful AI was focused on her mind. He wanted and needed everything she could give him. He accessed her childhood memories first, absorbing what he’d meant to her, what he’d made himself forget. His had been the earliest mind to touch hers. He’d picked her up when she’d fallen while trying to walk to him. And one of her favorite memories, a tea party when she’d taken command of his sentinels and had them sitting in chairs far too small and sipping on imaginary tea from cups that barely fit in their large hands.
That was before she’d learned to fear sentinels.
Equally old memories of rogues, Basilisk’s violation, and her soul-deep pain stirred in her mind. Vengeance instinctively sought those out, trying to drag them into the light so he could study them like he would any threat that needed to be neutralized.
“No.” Liv didn’t want Vengeance to see what a tarnished creature she was. Shame bit deep, and she tried to shield him from those memories and the link between her and her warship began to shred.
“Liv, please don’t fight me. Let me heal you.”
“I’m beyond all healing.” Liv tossed up a few more layers to her mental shields. That unreasoning fear took a deeper hold. She couldn’t let Vengeance see how dark her soul had become, how she was no better than the rogues now.
“I love you, Liv. I won’t force you,” he whispered. Then in a breath that wasn’t even a whisper, “I will die for you.”
Vengeance (Warships of the Spire Book 1) Page 19
