by Lolita Lopez
Her heart stuttered in her chest, and she didn’t even try to stop the grin that tugged at her mouth. “That’s good.”
“Yeah?” He drew a lazy shape on her skin. “Why?”
Taking his huge hand in hers, she brought it close and kissed the back of it. “Because I’m definitely falling in love with you.”
Cipher’s grin matched her own as he pulled her into his arms and kissed her. There were so many things she wanted to ask him, but right then, in that moment, she was content to press her cheek to his chest and just listen to his heartbeat. There would always be time to talk, but moments like these, quiet, gentle moments, were the ones to cherish.
Chapter Seventeen
“Ci, we’re going to be late if you don’t put that down and get ready,” Brook gently chided from the doorway of his workspace.
He glanced at his watch and grimaced. “Sorry. I lost track of time.”
“It’s okay,” she assured him as she swept into the room looking so beautiful she took his breath away. Earlier that day, Dizzy had sent over a bright pink dress that fit Brook to perfection. The color made her eyes seem even greener, and her hair looked so rich and dark against the fabric.
“You look amazing, Brook. Pink is definitely your color.”
“You think?” She shyly brushed her hands over the fabric. “It’s not too much?”
“No. It’s just right.” He rose from his drafting table and crossed the room. Cupping her face, he leaned down to kiss her. “You are going to be the prettiest woman at this dinner.”
“I don’t know about that,” she modestly replied. “Ella was a muse back on Calyx. She’s so gorgeous.”
“She is, but so are you. Especially in this dress,” he added, sliding his hand along the curve of her back to rest on her pert little ass.
“No.” She flicked his chest and stepped away from his hand. “We don’t have time for any of that.”
“Fine,” he grumbled, “but we’re leaving early to make time for that.”
She playfully rolled her eyes. “Go. Change.”
“We’re going four doors down,” he pointed out as he left his office. “It’s a twenty second walk.”
“All the more reason to be punctual.” She closed the door to his workspace. “I want to make a good impression.”
“Brook, they’re all going to love you.”
“Well, I bet they’ll love me even more if I’m on-time the first time I meet them.” She shooed him with a wave of her hands. “Go.”
“Yes, dear,” he grumbled sarcastically. She stuck out her tongue at him, and he smiled, deciding he would give her an enjoyable punishment for that later.
In no time at all, he had changed out of his lounging clothes into the uniform required any time he was outside his quarters. He found her waiting near the entryway, nervously wringing her hands and fidgeting. It finally occurred to him that this was probably her first time to ever go to a dinner like this. She was about to meet so many new people and that had to be daunting for someone who had spent most of her life in a secluded cabin.
Sliding his arm around her waist, he dragged her close and cupped the back of her head. “Brook, look at me.”
She lifted her gaze to his. “Yes?”
“You are smart, beautiful and brave. I know it, and my friends are about to learn it, too.”
She offered a little smile and toyed with a button on his shirt. “I don’t want to embarrass you.”
“Don’t think like that,” he urged. “You could never embarrass me.”
“I really could,” she insisted. “I still haven’t learned all of the rules about social interactions, and I’ve never even been on a date. This is all so new to me.”
“I’ll be right there with you.” He traced her jaw with his thumb. “And I mean it this time. I’m not leaving you alone like I did with that asshole Reckless.”
“That wasn’t your fault. You were following the rules.”
“Fuck the rules,” he said harshly. “Especially where that bastard is concerned.”
She reached up to stroke his face. “They were just ugly words, Cipher. It’s not the first time someone has been nasty to me.”
“It damn well better be the last.” He turned his face to kiss her palm. “No one will disrespect you like that ever again.”
“I’m sure they won’t if they see you scowling like that,” she teased.
He smiled and took her hand in his. “Ready?”
She nodded, and they left their quarters. They reached Raze and Ella’s door as Vicious and Hallie came off the elevator. They were a striking couple, and Cipher secretly hoped Hallie would take Brook under her wing. The two women were similar in age and background. If anyone could understand the life Brook had lived before he claimed her, it was Hallie.
“Hello!” Hallie greeted with a warm smile. “How are you, Cipher?”
“I’m well, ma’am. You?”
“Very, very good,” she said, sneaking a quick glance up at her mate. Vicious had his hand on the back of her neck, and his fingers brushed the area just above her stark white collar in a loving gesture. Turning her attention to Brook, she grinned. “I have heard so much about you from Vee!”
Brook anxiously glanced at the general. “Uh-oh.”
Hallie laughed and wound her arm through Brook’s. “All very, very good things. Now—let's get you introduced to everyone.” She looked back at her husband and playfully rolled her eyes. “The boys are going to talk guns and other boring things, but Ella and Naya always have the best gossip from around the ship.”
Left behind with the general, Cipher watched Hallie knock on the door and guide his mate into her first dinner party. Vicious clapped him on the back. “She’s in good hands. Come on. Let’s find Menace. I actually do want to talk to him about a new weapon I think we should acquire.”
Cipher laughed at that and trailed the general into Raze and Ella’s home. After a quick round of greetings, he gravitated toward the men who had taken up seats in the living area. He made sure to pick one that gave him a direct line of sight into the kitchen and dining room where Brook was surrounded. Dizzy and Naya were chatting with her about something that had all three of them smiling and laughing. Ella and Hallie milled around in the background, putting the finishing touches on dinner.
“Any word from Risk on Chance’s condition?” Venom asked.
“Still in his medically induced coma,” Vicious answered. “Risk assures me that he’ll make a full recovery with all his cognitive and physical abilities intact, but keeping him cold and asleep is the key.”
“We need to know his version of the story,” Raze insisted. He glanced back at the kitchen, making sure none of the women were listening, and leaned forward as he spoke in lowered tones. “I don’t believe a word that came out of Reckless’s lying mouth.”
“Nor I,” Vicious agreed. “Orion also thinks he’s the one who attacked the other two, but Reckless maintains that he was defending himself against Talon and Chance.”
“None of that makes sense,” Menace remarked. “Talon and Chance are twenty years younger. They’re stronger, faster.” He paused. “Well, Talon was.”
“I heard that Talon and Chance went to medical training together,” Venom said.
“Not just medical training,” Cipher interjected. “They grew up together. Their dads served together. Chance’s betrothed mate is Talon’s younger sister.”
Venom made a face. “And what does Keen think about that?”
Vicious shrugged. “Whatever he thinks, he isn’t sharing yet.”
“Typical,” Raze grumbled. “What’s the deal there? Is he criminal investigations or is he Shadow Force?”
“I couldn’t say,” Vicious remarked, his gaze briefly moving to their mates.
Understanding that was a question that needed a certain clearance level to answer, they dropped it. Instead, Cipher asked, “How long is Reckless staying in the brig?”
“That’s up to Orion.” The general stretch
ed out his long legs. “There’s no love lost between those two. As soon as he can get this matter cleared up, Orion will likely bounce Reckless back to Prime to face a court martial or be forcibly retired.”
“Good riddance,” Raze muttered. Shaking his head, he asked, “How many other mates do you think he treated like that?” The boss glanced at Brook with sympathy. “He had no hesitation saying that horrible shit to her. He’s definitely done it in the past.”
Menace cleared his throat. He, too, made sure their mates were busy in the kitchen before admitting, “Naya heard some rumors about Reckless and some of the wives down in the enlisted men’s section.”
Vicious sat up at that. “What kind of rumors?”
Menace shot him a look. “What kind do you think?”
The general’s jaw visibly stiffened. “Tomorrow, I would appreciate it if you would ask Naya to talk to Keen. If Reckless has been hurting women on this ship, we need to know.”
“If he’s been taking advantage of other men’s wives, you’re going to have a line of men ready to beat the shit out of him,” Raze warned. “You won’t be able to keep him alive in the cells.”
Vicious shrugged. “Well, that would be a pity, wouldn’t it?”
None of them had a chance to reply because Ella appeared and stood behind Raze, rubbing his shoulders as she announced, “Dinner is ready.”
Raze took one of her hands and kissed it before standing and taking his place next to her. While the other men joined their mates, Cipher walked to Brook’s side. Ella directed Vicious to the seat of honor at her right and Brook to the seat on Raze’s right. The others filled in the spaces as they liked. Wanting to make sure Brook was comfortable, he took the seat to her right. She smiled at him, and he sensed that she had settled in nicely with the other mates.
“So, no worries about my cooking skills,” Ella joked as she sat down at the head of the table. “I catered so you’re all safe from food poisoning and having to chuck the burned bits under your chairs.”
Laughter rounded the table, and they began to serve themselves family style. Ever the social butterfly, Ella kept the conversation light and funny. As Brook was drawn into conversation with Naya and Dizzy, he looked around the table and felt such gratitude for his friends and their willingness to welcome his mate.
Vicious frowned and glanced at his watch. “Raze, may I use your comm unit?”
“Of course.” Raze gestured to the room he used as an office. “There’s more privacy in there.”
Vicious nodded. “Excuse me.”
Not letting the general’s abrupt departure dampen the mood, Ella said, “So, we received some rather good news today.”
“Oh?” Dizzy grinned at Ella as if she already knew what was coming.
“Not that news,” Ella said, pinning Dizzy in place with a look. She turned to Naya. “Do you want to tell them?”
Naya smiled. “Ella and I are going into business together. Today, we were given an alcohol import permit!”
“We are going to be the sole importer of beer, wine and spirits from Calyx to the fleet!” Ella wiggled in her seat and clapped her hands. “Go us!”
Amid the laughter and congratulations, Naya explained their business plan. “Ella has the contacts in the alcohol industry, and I already have the import logistics down with my shop. We decided to merge and bring the very best that our planet has to offer to the restaurants, bars, shops and clubs up here.”
“When the skyport opens, we have a five-year exclusive permit for supplying every business on the port with alcohol.”
Cipher didn’t have to be a genius at math to figure out how much money the two women stood to make on their venture. Ella would have no problem funding all of her charitable works, and Naya would be able to establish the business empire she wanted to build.
“What did I miss?” Vicious asked as he returned to the table.
“Naya and Ella announced their liquor business,” Menace explained as he gazed adoringly at his mate. After all the two had been through, Cipher was so glad to see them happy.
“Oh! Did your license come through today?” Vicious reached for his glass. “Orion mentioned that he had put in a good word for the two of you with the planning council.”
“That’s shocking to hear,” Ella muttered. “During our meeting, he did nothing but scowl and ask questions that made us feel doomed.”
Vicious shook his head as he sipped his drink. “That’s just his default setting. Don’t take it personally.”
“Maybe he needs a reboot,” Naya suggested wryly. “If ever there was a man on this ship who needed a wife…”
“He had one,” Hallie remarked offhandedly in between bites.
Vicious snapped his attention to his wife. “Says who?”
“Says him,” she answered. “He told me himself.”
“When?”
“At your birthday dinner,” she said, setting down her fork. “You had wandered off to talk to someone, and he sat down beside me and said that he missed having a woman look at him the way I look at you.” She seemed a little embarrassed as she said, “I think he’d had too much to drink. When I asked him about the woman who had looked at him like that, he told me she had been dead for more than twenty years. Apparently they were teenage sweethearts, but she died before their first anniversary.”
Vicious stared at his wife with an expression of wonder. “Terror was right. You would be an incredible interrogator. Everyone just spills their secrets around you.”
“Not everyone,” she said with a frown. “Especially not Terror.”
Vicious sighed and sat back in his chair. “That’s why I needed your comm unit, Raze.” He gestured to his wrist. “I’ve been getting tracking alerts for Terror’s new chip. He’s still restricted until the psych board clears him so anytime he gets near anything too critical or classified, I have to override the system or send one of Torment’s recruits after him.”
“He popped out of a heat sink vent outside the shooting range this morning,” Menace grumbled. “I almost shot him! Thought he was a stowaway or a Splinter assassin.”
Vicious grimaced. “He’s been spending hours in the hidden corridors of the ship. Savage is at his wit’s end, and Orion is threatening to confine him to quarters.”
Venom snorted. “Good luck with that.”
“It’s not the skulking around that’s the real problem,” Menace interjected. “The worst part is that he’s walking around with ballistic plugs in his ears so he can’t hear you when you yell at him for scaring you half to death,” Menace said with an aggravated shake of his head.
“Ear plugs?” Raze frowned. “Do you think he has sensory overload after being held captive?”
Before Menace could answer, Brook interrupted. “He’s just trying to be close to her again.”
Vicious frowned at Brook. “Her? Who?”
Brook nervously glanced at him, and Cipher smiled encouragingly at her to continue. “The night I visited him in the hospital, when I gave him that orange, he asked me about a girl. A deaf girl,” she added. “I got the feeling that she was important to him. I offered to go back to the mountain and ask around, see if anyone knew her, but he told me to drop it.” Her expression turned sad. “If she was a captive like him, she’s probably dead now or got sold by the same types of monsters who kidnapped me.”
“I had no idea,” Vicious admitted after a quiet moment. “He didn’t say anything.”
“He probably didn’t want to tell you because he knew you’d ask him questions that he wasn’t ready to answer yet,” Brook said carefully. “Telling your best friend about someone you cared for and lost makes it painfully real.”
Vicious’s face softened. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
Suddenly, every man at the table tensed and lifted their wrists. Cipher glanced at his and felt relief when it wasn’t a call for SRU.
“Torment?” Raze asked, flashing his wrist.
Cipher and the rest of the men nodded.
<
br /> “We haven’t even served dessert!” Ella protested as the men stood to leave.
“Sorry, sweetheart,” Raze apologized and bent down to kiss her. “Save me some cake?”
She blew a raspberry at him. “Fat chance! Me and the girls are going to sit here and eat our feelings after being abandoned by our husbands!”
Raze leaned in and whispered something that made her smile. She grabbed the front of his uniform and dragged him down for a kiss.
Cipher glanced away and noticed the others bidding farewell to their wives in similar fashion. He took Brook’s hand and pulled her closer. “Go straight back to our quarters when you’re done here.”
“I will.”
“I may be late coming home so don’t wait up for me.”
“I don’t mind.”
“I know you don’t.” He kissed her softly. “Don’t forget your treatment.”
She made a face and sighed. “I won’t.”
“And, if there really is cake, smuggle out a slice for me,” he requested with a playful grin.
She giggled and kissed him. “I’ll do my best, sir.”
He was still smiling as he fell into step behind Venom. He wasn’t happy about being called away from Brook, but he had something to look forward to at the end of a mission—coming home to his mate.
Chapter Eighteen
“You sure you don’t want to stay for a bit?” Ella asked as she sealed a slice of cake into a takeaway container.
“I have to do a breathing treatment every night,” Brook explained while loading the last plate into the dishwasher. “It’s a whole process, and it makes me feel like garbage after so I’d rather get it over with sooner rather than later.”
“I’ve got a bottle of wine chilling,” Ella wheedled. “Dizzy can’t drink, and Naya has already gone home so that just leaves me and Hallie to enjoy it.”
“Sorry,” Hallie piped up as she swept under the table. “No wine for me tonight.”
Ella narrowed her eyes. “And why is that?”
Hallie smiled and touched her belly. “The treatment worked.”
Dizzy and Ella squealed with excitement and ran to hug her.
