“Thank you,” she said, her voice husky. For fixing the dress, for the kiss, for everything. She hadn’t known how much she’d needed to be screwed by someone until he’d been stood there between her legs.
“Well, it was me who undid it,” Garrant said, grinning at her. “Perhaps next time, I’ll get you all the way out of it?”
“Next time?” she said, the thought of his body moving over hers sending another thrill of desire through her.
“I’m not the sort to pass on the opportunity for phenomenal sex,” he said.
“Phenomenal?” she arched her eyebrows. “Is that in reference to your performance or mine?”
Garrant laughed. “You are phenomenal. I’m just the schmuck who’s hoping he gets to see you again.”
He kissed her, passionate, but careful not to muss her newly restyled hair. When he drew back, his pupils were wide with desire.
“When can I see you again?”
Nell’s heart tripped over itself. She wanted to see him again, really, really wanted to see him again, but… “I can’t. I promised tonight would be the only babysitter night. My son…”
She trailed off, unsure how he would take this revelation.
“Ah, the miracle worker who’s managed to befriend Sassi,” Garrant said with a grin. He leaned in and pressed another lingering kiss to her lips. “Allendi mentioned something to me about play dates. I’m sure if you do one for her, she’ll be more than happy to return the favour. It would buy us a couple of hours. I can achieve quite a lot in a couple of hours.”
“I bet you can,” she said, a flash of lust going through her.
How had this man got her wrapped around his little finger so fast? This wasn’t her way, wasn’t how she usually behaved. And she was loving every minute of it.
“I’ll message you,” Garrant said, stepping back. It broke the spell a little, the inferno burning inside her quelling enough to help her think straight. “They’ve got all the comms hooked up so you can request to speak to anyone on board the Olympia. You’ll have to accept my message to initiate the connection. If you decide you’d rather not, I promise there will be no hard feelings. But I hope we can do this again.”
“Okay,” she said.
He grinned, but then frowned, turning to look round the room. When he turned back to her, he had the Meditation stone necklace in his hand.
“Don’t forget this,” he said, stepping up to her and placing it carefully over her head.
He shot her a smile that was less polished, less deliberate than the others he’d given her and it made Nell feel like the whole world had tilted. Because Garrant was a force of nature when he turned his seductive attention on her, but that she could handle. It was a game, one in which she could meet him as an equal if she so chose. That smile - that slightly embarrassed, slightly sheepish smile - cut straight through all the pretence, all the carefully choreographed conversations, the sequence of touches honed over many encounters, giving her a glimpse of the Garrant beneath all that.
And that glimpse was enough for Nell to know exactly how dangerous this game she’d engaged in was. Because that Garrant, the real Garrant - he made her heart race every bit as much.
It felt so obvious what they’d been doing as they headed back out into the arena, but after the third or fourth person passed them without a second glance, Nell started to relax. She could see Asha and Allendi still on the dancefloor, apparently oblivious to the fact that they’d been gone.
“If anyone asks, I’ve just taken you on a tour of the arena,” Garrant said. “Unless you want to tell them exactly what we’ve been up to. I certainly don’t mind.”
“I think we’ll keep this between us,” Nell said.
“Okay,” he said. “Sometimes better not to complicate a thing with everyone else’s feelings about it.”
Her thoughts exactly.
Randar and Angela were at the bar, getting a second round of drinks. Angela caught Nell’s eye and held up a glass, shooting her a questioning look. Nell nodded, and was about to head over to her when someone walking altogether too quickly cut out of the crowd in front of her and nearly knocked her off her feet. Garrant’s arms went around her, hauling her back upright. She turned, ready to give an earful to whoever had been so careless, but the words died on the end of her tongue when she saw him.
The familiar mop of wavy blonde hair and indeterminate eyes that couldn’t make up their mind what colour they were, blue in some lights, brown in others. And that face - a little bit older, a little less boyish since she saw him last, but undeniably his face. She’d dreamed of it often enough in the early days.
“Ricky,” she said, the word escaping with the release of her held breath.
Chapter 8
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?” NELL said to the lanky idiot who’d nearly knocked her over.
She sounded breathless, shocked. Not good shock, either. Whoever he was, she really hadn’t been expecting to bump in to him here, and the fact that she had wasn’t pleasant for her.
“Nell,” the other man said, sounding every bit as stunned as she was.
His eyes tracked down her body, taking in the dress and, no doubt, the incredibly beautiful body it was wrapped around. Garrant bit back a snarl and the urge to throw a possessive arm around her waist.
What was it about Nell that had him behaving like an animal all of a sudden? No getting emotionally involved, no getting hurt - wasn’t that what he’d said? Wasn’t that what had always been the case in the past?
And yet, he found himself feeling pretty emotional at the fact that Nell was obviously distressed by this guy.
“You won one of the lottery places?” the guy - Ricky - asked.
“No, I didn’t win one of the lottery places,” Nell said. “Did you?”
“No.” He rummaged in his trouser pockets, pulling out an ID Card. “Press photographer. You’re working here, too then? Part of the medical team?”
“I don’t know whether to be flattered or insulted that you assume I still qualified,” she said, her voice full of bite and anger.
Ricky just looked confused. He was handsome, Garrant supposed, in a foppish sort of way. He had the look of a man who only had to turn such a confused look on someone and they’d fall over themselves to help him. A kind of harmlessness that, used well, could be anything but.
Garrant touched a hand to the small of Nell’s back, aiming for reassuring - an ‘I’m here if you need me’ gesture. She was rigid, tension rendering her muscles tight, unyielding, all that earlier softness gone.
“I can’t believe you’re here,” Ricky said, either too stupid to notice Nell’s anger, or too stupid to care.
“Really?” Nell all but spat. “You really can’t believe I’m here? I suppose when you only ever think of yourself you don’t expect other people to be any different. Of course Asha brought us along.”
“Asha?” Ricky looked round. “She’s here, too?”
Nell opened and closed her mouth a few times. “Where have you been for the last six months?” she said, eventually. “Have you not seen the news?”
“Antarctica, actually,” Ricky said. “Since October. We only started the journey home at the end of March. I’ve pretty much come straight off that expedition and on to this one. A crew were filming the penguin colonies. I was the photographer.”
“And you can fuck off back to the penguins.”
Garrant turned to see Asha approaching from a short distance away, Allendi behind her. If Nell was distressed and a little angry, Asha was furious. Her grey eyes blazed, her whole body fizzing with barely contained rage as she marched towards them.
“Asha,” Ricky said, nodding a greeting, giving the impression he had considered the likelihood of her punching him and deemed it to be low. Garrant wasn’t so sure himself.
“Leave,” Asha said, her voice low. “Now.”
Ricky bristled. “You can’t throw me out.”
“I think you’ll find I can.”
&n
bsp; “Problem?” Randar had stepped up behind them, his massive bulk dominating the space. Angela, his Match, went straight to Nell, standing beside her. Ricky’s eyes went from Nell to Asha, then round everyone else now arrayed against him. It finally seemed to sink into his thick skull that he was not welcome, and he dropped his gaze.
“Go,” Asha said. “And if I see you again, I’ll have you thrown out an airlock.”
“Not sure you can follow through on that one,” Garrant said, once Ricky was out of earshot, slinking away towards the exit.
“Probably best if he doesn’t try me, all the same,” Asha said, her eyes on Ricky, watching him all the way out of the arena.
It would be incredibly stupid if he did, Garrant thought.
He turned to see if Nell was okay just as her legs went out from under her. She swayed a moment, before toppling towards him, the shock and anger overcoming her. With reactions born of hours spent of the Hyperdisk field, Garrant caught her before she fell too far.
“Woah there,” he said, taking her weight and propping her back upright. “You’re okay, I’ve got you.”
She was pale, all colour drained from her face, and trembling. Garrant wanted to hold her, to whisper in her ear that everything would be okay, that he would make it all okay. No getting emotionally involved, and yet here he was, wanting to soothe away her pain.
“Breathe,” Asha said, standing in front of her sister. “Oxygen - kind of essential to the whole ‘staying conscious’ thing. Good job Mikey loaned you this, huh?”
She tapped the meditation stone that hung round Nell’s neck. Nell managed a small laugh, taking the stone between her fingers. She didn’t use it to guide her breathing, but closed her eyes and took a long, slow breath, apparently drawing some other comfort from the stone. The trembling slowed. Garrant felt when her legs took her weight, holding steady beneath her, but he didn’t let go. Partly out of fear that she would topple again, but mostly because he didn’t want to.
“I’m okay,” she said. “I’m alright. You can let me go now.”
“Are you sure?” Garrant said.
She shot him a weak smile. “I’m sure.”
He eased back slowly, still poised to grab her if she wobbled even slightly. She didn’t, straightening herself up.
“Want me to get you a glass of water?” Angela asked, her hand on Nell’s shoulder.
“Please,” Nell said. She turned to Asha. “Did you know he was here?”
“Of course not,” Asha said. “If I’d seen his name on any of the lists, I’d have removed him. I have half a mind to order him be locked in his room for the rest of the trip.”
“Don’t,” Nell said. “It’s okay. I’m okay. He just… he caught me by surprise.”
She brushed a hand through her hair, now mussed up once again. Angela reappeared with a glass of water, and Nell took a sip. Her colour had started coming back, and though she still looked shaken, she didn’t look in imminent danger of collapse. With some effort, Garrant stepped away from her, giving her space, neither wanting to overcrowd her or appear like an overprotective nut job. Because that’s what this urge to be close to her was - crazy. They weren’t friends. Maybe they could be in time, but they’d only just met. They were just… What were they, exactly? Garrant didn’t have an answer for that.
He cared about her, though, cared about her far more than he should have for one encounter, no matter how spectacular that encounter was.
No getting emotionally involved, no getting hurt.
“Everything alright?” Cael asked, appearing from somewhere, Ardan trailing behind him, a drink in his hand which he passed to Allendi. “What happened?”
“Ricky,” Asha said.
“What, here?” Cael clearly knew who this guy was, and the usually affable prince actually scowled. “I can call for security?”
“No,” Nell said, “he’s gone. Asha chased him off already. And I’m fine, really. Just exhausted all of a sudden. I think I’ll just head back to my room.”
“I’ll walk you,” Asha said.
“No,” Nell said, firm, calm, her composure returning with every second since Ricky had gone. “The night’s barely got started. I don’t want to stop you guys having a great time. It’s not far, I can make my own way back.”
Asha glanced past Nell to the exit, and Garrant knew what she was thinking. What if Ricky was lurking around outside, what if he followed Nell back to her suite. The very idea of it set Garrant’s teeth on edge.
“I’ll take you,” Garrant said.
Several people went to protest, but Garrant just held up his hand.
“This is your night,” he said to Asha and Cael, “this whole event is because of you. You can’t leave your own party early. And I bet you two haven’t had a babysitter since Sass was born, so no chance I’m letting you leave early.” Even though he rather suspected neither Allendi nor Ardan would have minded at all. They weren’t exactly party people. He turned to Angela and Randar. “I barely know you two, but I wouldn’t want to keep Angela from the dance floor.”
He shot her a wink, prompting Allendi to punch his arm.
“Stop trying to disguise your chivalry with flirtatious behaviour. You won’t fool anybody here into thinking you’re anything other than a sweetheart beneath that roguish veneer,” Allendi said. “Would you mind walking Nell back?” She turned to Nell. “I don’t like the thought of you walking back on your own, either.”
“Of course I don’t mind,” Garrant said. “As long as Nell doesn’t mind.”
Nell just nodded. Asha drew her into a hug, the two sisters having a quiet conversation for a moment. Whatever Nell said obviously reassured Asha some, for Asha smiled when she stepped back.
“I’ll see you all tomorrow,” Nell said, her smile almost convincingly upbeat.
Garrant walked with her towards the entrance, alert for any sign of Ricky. However stupid the guy was, though, he’d obviously realised he wasn’t welcome. He wasn’t waiting for them outside of the arena. Garrant was glad, both for Nell and for the fact that he didn’t have to punch the idiot in the nose.
Wouldn’t want to hurt his knuckles the day before his first heat.
“You alright?” Garrant asked. “Really?”
Who was that guy? Who was he to you? These questions danced on the tip of his tongue but he didn’t ask them. It wasn’t his place to.
“I’m fine really,” she said. “You don’t have to walk me back, I can manage. I’m not going to keel over, I promise.”
“I know,” he replied. “But if I go back into the party now, your sister is going to come chasing after you. She won’t want to leave you on your own once you get back to your suite, and then you’ll be feeling guilty that you ruined her night. This way, she gets to continue on at the party.”
“And I ruin your night instead?”
His night had already been ruined right along with hers. Because of Ricky, she now wouldn’t look back on this evening and remember what she’d been doing with Garrant.
“I wouldn’t call getting to spend more time with you ‘ruined’,” he said.
But the easy flirtation of their earlier conversation had gone, stolen away by Ricky’s appearance. She smiled, but looked down at the floor, no response, no riposte.
“Really, it’s no bother,” he said. “In fact, you’re doing me a favour. I’ve got heats early tomorrow, and I should probably be heading to bed soon anyway. This way, at least I don’t look like I’m ducking out of the party like an old, tired man.”
That prompted a more genuine smile.
“Hardly old,” she said. “And not particularly tired, either.”
Garrant grinned. “In the world of athletics, I’m ancient, but thanks. It’s good to know I’m not past it in every way.”
They walked in companionable silence for a moment, before Nell turned to him.
“You’re not going to ask me what all that was about?”
“You can tell me if you want to,” Garrant
said. “I didn’t want to pry.”
“My little boy, Mikey - Ricky is his father. He left me when he found out I was pregnant. That’s the first time I’ve seen him since. Mikey’s five.”
“Ouch,” Garrant said.
And this was why the Match test was such a good thing, in Garrant’s mind, even though he had no Match of his own. Because a Match just wouldn’t do that. You wouldn’t treat your perfect partner that way.
“Yup,” Nell said, grimacing slightly. “He always did want to be a sports photographer. I suppose this is an incredible opportunity for him.”
“You think he’ll cause you any bother?”
She shook her head. “I doubt it. He seemed as surprised to see me as I was to see him. I think it’s most likely that he’ll just try to avoid me.”
“And is that what you want?” Garrant asked, bracing internally for the answer.
Nell’s shoulders fell. “I don’t know. Maybe? I don’t want to be anywhere near him, but Mikey… If he decides he wants to get to know Mikey, he deserves a chance, surely?”
Garrant wanted to say no, but then he wasn’t coming from the most unbiased viewpoint.
No getting emotionally involved, no getting hurt.
He tried to repeat the words like a mantra, but it seemed Nell had already taken root in his heart.
“I guess that depends what Mikey wants,” Garrant said.
“I think I know what his answer would be,” Nell said.
They arrived at the lift platform, stepping on to it. Nell grimaced as the little disk shot into the air, carrying them both. Garrant put a hand to her arm, steadying her. She shot him a smile.
Garrant Page 7
