Deuces Wild Boxed Set: Books 1-4: Beyond the Frontiers, Rampage, Labyrinth, Birthright

by Ell Leigh Clarke

  Tabitha looked at the scarf for a moment before connecting the dots. She wiped up the mess she’d made and handed the scarf back to him. “Barnabas! What if Pete decides he wants to stay?”

  Barnabas tilted his head. “Highly unlikely, but what if he did?”

  “I… I don’t know.” Tabitha couldn’t even begin to unravel how she would deal with that choice.

  Their relationship was the happiest thing Tabitha had been part of. They gave each other zero stress since they’d skipped the awkward “getting to know you” phase and slipped straight into the easy comfort that only came of spending years together.

  He was still the same Peter she had known for almost her whole life, but she didn’t need to talk about it to know that they had grown into something more since that night they had turned to one another for comfort in their grief. They’d just been enjoying the moments so much that they hadn’t even discussed the future.

  Who needed to when life was no longer restricted to a mad eighty-year rush?

  Facing the consideration that waking up next to him might become all but impossible was not something she felt equipped to deal with.

  Barnabas interrupted her chain of thought. “I am certain that Peter will choose to be wherever you are, since that will be where Bethany Anne is.”

  Tabitha resolved to find out one way or another when she saw Peter on Merry’s birthday. Life would go on, and if they were meant to be, they would make it wherever they ended up.

  “I know. Now all I need to do is help Tiera and Ashley find security before life as we know it gets forever rearranged into something that looks completely…different.” A slow smile spread across Tabitha’s face. “Oh, Barnabas! I might have figured out the solution to Tiera and Ashley’s problems!”

  Barnabas beamed and sat forward. “I knew you would. I always find that the solution to a tricky problem only occurs if you think about something else. Would you care to enlighten me?”

  Tabitha grinned. “Well, if the Empire is going to go through changes, you can bet that one of those will be a change of uniform for everyone. I wonder if the plans for that have been made yet?”

  “Knowing Bethany Anne, yes.” He patted Tabitha’s hand. “But I’m guessing it won’t be high on her list of priorities. I would bet she’s just waiting for the details to fall into place, and that she doesn’t know you have the people she needs to make it happen.”

  Tabitha squealed with happiness. “Barnabas, you’re a genius!” She leapt to her feet and pounded out of the office with her coat flying behind her.

  Barnabas wiggled a finger in his ear to try to stop the ringing. “Let me know how it turns out,” he said calmly to the closed door.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  QBBS Meredith Reynolds, Tabitha’s Quarters

  Tabitha stood at the vanity in her bathroom with her hair scrunched in her hands. “Up or down. Hmmm…down.” She let it go and massaged her scalp with her fingertips to return the body to it. “I don’t know why I feel so nervous.”

  Neither do I, Achronyx teased. Merry will like her gift, and if she doesn’t, it’s not exactly galaxy-ending. It is unlikely she will even remember this day unless Meredith records it for her.

  She walked into the bedroom and picked up the gift-wrapped box containing Merry’s coat, then glanced at the closet where she’d hung the coat Ashley had made her to match. It’s a big deal for me! I want her to love it.

  And it’s nothing to do with anything else that’s happening today?

  You got me. I am nervous about what Pete will say. She hugged the box to her chest. But Ashley was over the moon with ADAM’s offer.

  She has been making waves. The new premises are almost up and running already, and I have been helping her interview prospective workers.

  Tabitha grinned, warmed to her toes by the speed at which things were falling into place for the two women now that a resolution had been found. I can’t wait to see Tiera’s reaction to the surprise. Did she get back to you about meeting me later?

  She did. She will be there, and she promised to bring Sebastian.

  Oh, goody!

  You have company, Achronyx announced.

  Tabitha put the box down and went to answer the door. “Let me guess, it’s Peter.”

  She heard him groan as she approached the door.

  “Tabbie, open up and let me in before my arms drop off!”

  She opened the door and there he was, completely loaded down by the stack of boxes in his arms, which were straining under the weight of the bags he had hanging from them.

  Tabitha’s mouth dropped open. “What’s all this?”

  Peter tilted his body to show her the logo from Ashley’s old store on the bags. “I ran into your friend. She gave me all this and told me to tell you she'll be back with the rest in a few days.” His voice was muffled by the stack of boot boxes balanced on his outstretched arms. “She was in a hurry, so I offered.”

  Tabitha recovered from her shock at the sheer volume of the gifts Ashley had sent and smiled at Peter. “That’s because you’re a good man. Come on, let’s get all this inside.”

  She led him into the living area and piled the bags on the dining table before taking the boot boxes from him. She stood back once he had dropped his bags on the table next to the others. “Wow! Ashley said she had some stock in my size, but shit! And she said there’s more?”

  She started opening the boxes.

  “So many decades and yet I feel a need to ask.” He looked at her. “Why do women need so many clothes?”

  Tabitha looked up from the nest of tissue paper she was carefully removing. “Huh?” She hadn’t caught his question. “Never mind the clothing, get a load of these boots!” She held up the current pair. “I’m going to need a closet as big as Bethany Anne’s!”

  “Nobody needs a closet as big as Bethany Anne’s.” He grinned and rubbed his forearms vigorously to get the feeling back. “I dunno, though. A bigger closet might not cut it. You might want to think about getting a bigger place.”

  Tabitha’s eyes began to tingle. “I just didn’t expect all this. I helped because Tiera and Ashley are good people and I hated to see their talents go to waste.”

  “Ashley knows that.” Peter wrapped his arms around Tabitha and kissed her tears away. “You did her and Tiera a huge kindness. I know you didn’t do it for a reward, but when someone is grateful for your help, it’s only natural they would want to show it.” His kisses changed to nibbles that tickled Tabitha’s jaw. “What would she do with this stuff anyway? It all looks like it was made for you.”

  Tabitha snickered. “You always know the right thing to say. I’m just happy that we found a solution. You know, being a Ranger isn’t always about big fights and taking down interplanetary crime syndicates.” She leaned her head on his shoulder. “Sometimes it’s about fixing something at home. Like finding a place for Tiera. It took a while, but we got there in the end.”

  Peter smiled. “I know. And you averted a crisis in two separate systems this month. Tonight you get a well-earned break.”

  Tabitha lifted her head. “Maybe you’re right about getting a bigger place.”

  Peter was thrown by the sudden change in topic. “Huh?”

  “What will your choice be?”

  Peter didn’t answer immediately. He hadn’t gotten to either this age or this stage in his relationship with the fieriest woman in the whole Empire bar Bethany Anne by answering such a softly-spoken question without first carefully considering whether even the nuances of his words could be taken out of context. “My choice about what?”

  Tabitha did not explode, so Peter knew he hadn’t forgotten some important—to her—date. She did look at him with pity, however, which meant he’d missed something. “What’s going on, Tabbie?”

  Tabitha’s eyebrows went up in surprise. “Oh, honey. You really don’t know? The choice to stay or leave with Bethany Anne when the Empire breaks up.”

  Peter’s jaw dropped. “
The Empire is breaking up?” He leaned against the table and crossed his arms, trying to absorb the bombshell. “That’s…huge. When did you find out?”

  Tabitha leaned next to Peter and put her head on his shoulder. “It’s not official, not yet. But ADAM let a few things slip to Achronyx, and I had a long chat with Barnabas about it after I got back from Omidian. Are you okay?”

  Peter rubbed his chin while he thought. “You know, it’s not a total shock. We didn’t come to space to rule. We have a bigger duty here, and putting that to the side was a sacrifice we had to make when we found out that the Kurtherians fucked with every species they came across.”

  Tabitha’s lip curled. “Yeah, well, I think that our Empress is preparing to take the fight to them again.”

  They sat in silence for a few moments. Peter broke it first. “So you think we’re going to war?”

  Tabitha shrugged. “Eventually. Bethany Anne has been to hell and back recently. I think that when she ran, she caught up with herself. Our give-no-fucks leader is back, and she will loop us in when she’s good and ready. We should be prepared when she does.”

  “Well, fuck. I’m glad you told me.” He wiped his face with a hand. “I don’t need to ask why you think Bethany Anne will want to leave. I agree that the constraints of ruling have worn her down. I don’t blame her for wanting her freedom back.”

  “We could try to persuade her otherwise.” Tabitha snickered. “But we would have more luck trying to catch the wind.” She hesitated a moment before asking again. “When the time comes, will you go with her, or will you stay here and find a place in what comes next?”

  Peter put his arm around Tabitha and held her close. “I go where she goes, same as you.” He kissed the top of her head as he whispered, “Ad Aeternitatem.”

  Tabitha snuggled into Peter’s chest and sighed happily. “Good. I was half-afraid I would have to drag you away from here cavewoman-style.” She poked him in the chest gently. “I’ve kind of gotten used to this.”

  Peter smirked. “‘This’ being…”

  She slapped him in the same spot she’d just poked. “Us, you ass. I never thought we would work out.”

  Peter feigned offense. “Why not?”

  Tabitha shrugged. “I dunno. We’ve known each other forever.”

  “Which is exactly why we’re perfect.” He cupped her chin and turned her face up to his. “I wouldn’t let you leave me either. It took too long for me to realize that we belong together.”

  Tabitha’s heart first stopped, then skipped, and finally pulsed an extra-hard beat. “We do? I mean, I knew it. But you think so, too?”

  “How could I not?” Peter squeezed Tabitha and laid his head on hers. “We know everything there is to know about each other. Who better to fall in love with than one of your oldest friends?” He kissed Tabitha’s head once more and released her to go and rummage in the fridge.

  Tabitha walked over and leaned on the counter where she had a better view of Peter’s ass bobbing around while he raided her fridge. “Using that logic, you would be just as happy hooking up with…Meredith.”

  Peter heard the undertone of jealousy, and it pleased his Were nature immensely. “Nah. Meredith doesn’t have your heart or the badonkadonk to end all badonkadonks.” He turned around with the cooked chicken he’d snagged. “What else have you got to eat?” he asked through a mouthful of chicken.

  “You're eating it,” she replied. She took a plate from the cupboard and put it on the counter, then hopped onto a stool at the breakfast bar while Peter loaded it.

  He opened a cupboard and grimaced at its bareness. “For someone who loves food as much as I do, you never have any in your kitchen.”

  “Maybe because I’ve got a problem with a hungry Pricolici who keeps coming over and eating everything?” Tabitha raised an eyebrow at Peter’s continuation of his search. “You do know there's going to be food at the party?”

  Peter shrugged. He put the half-eaten chicken on the plate and stood on his tiptoes to search the overhead cupboard where Tabitha usually kept the good snacks. “Yeah, but I’m hungry now. Besides,” he emerged from the cupboard with a package of jerky, “it will all be little-kid food.”

  Tabitha slipped into the space between Peter and the counter and looked pointedly at his selection. “And that’s grown-ass man food?”

  Peter puffed his chest out. “I’m a grown-ass man, and that’s my food. So, yeah.” He pouted when Tabitha burst out laughing. “What? I need meat. It’s like a basic requirement.”

  Tabitha grabbed him around the waist and pulled him toward her. “Funny you should say that. I was just thinking almost exactly the same thing.”

  QBBS Meredith Reynolds, All Guns Blazing, Private Function Rooms

  Tabitha dragged Peter through the corridor that ran along the outside of the main bar toward the sounds of music and children’s laughter. “C’mon, Pete! We’re late!”

  Peter chuckled and allowed her to pull him along. “We’re not late, look.” He pointed out a couple of little kids in party clothes arriving with their gift-laden parents in tow.

  Tabitha stopped dead in her tracks. “Merry’s gift! I left it on the dresser! This is what I get for letting you distract me.”

  Peter shook the shiny bag he had in his free hand. “Good thing I noticed and picked it up, then. I put it in with mine, so you’re golden.”

  She looked at the bag blankly for a second, then shook her head. “I didn’t even see you had that. Thanks for being so thoughtful.”

  “No worries, babe.” Peter winked and flashed a grin. “That’s what you get for letting me distract you.”

  Tabitha returned his grin and walked through the doors into the party.

  The room beyond was decorated with balloons and streamers. Children’s party songs played in the background while Merry and her guests ran around their parents’ legs with all the energy that twenty boisterous sugar-filled children were capable of.

  Tabitha pointed out the food laid out on the tables along one wall. “I told you there would be food.”

  Peter nodded at Jean, who was sitting by the table with her eyes peeled for anyone who was thinking of raiding the buffet before she had given the go-ahead. “Yeah, and it’s guarded by a fearsome warrior.” He turned to whisper, “I’d like my hands to remain attached to my body, thanks.”

  Jean waved Tabitha and Peter over. “Good to see you both. Gifts go there, and Merry is with Lillian in the back.”

  Tabitha and Peter left their gifts on the table with the others and made their way over to give a harried Lillian some help herding Merry and her friends in the spaceship-shaped bounce house.

  The noise coming from the bounce house was incredible. The children’s happy screams filled the room and echoed from the high ceiling.

  It was so loud that Tabitha wasn’t surprised the birthday girl hadn’t noticed their arrival. She was too busy bouncing around in the spaceship with a bunch of other kids her age while Lillian watched from the side.

  Lillian smiled and pushed back the wisps of hair that had fallen into her face. “You made it! Merry will be delighted. Why don’t you go in and surprise her?”

  Tabitha removed her shoes and ducked inside the net at the bounce house’s entrance. “I’ll just say a quick hi and leave her to play with her friends.”

  Tabitha’s “quick hi” turned into her and Peter being mobbed by the children, then the pair of them were pulled into the kids’ games until Jean called time to eat.

  The children left as one, swarming over to the adults. The only one still in the bounce-house was Merry.

  “Time to eat, Twinkle,” Lillian called.

  “Don’t want to!” Merry yelled.

  Tabitha and Lillian exchanged a glance, hearing her muttering to Meredith.

  Lillian moved to retrieve her, but Tabitha winked and told her to take a break. “I’ve got her.” She climbed back inside the bounce house and found little Merry scrunched up at the back. Her niece was tr
ying to hide the fact that she was crying.

  Tabitha scrambled over and sat beside her. “Merry, what’s the matter?”

  Merry sniffed, and a bubble of snot popped at the end of her nose. She wiped her face on her dress, staining it with tears. “I don’t want to have a party anymore.”

  Tabitha held out her arm, and Merry scooted over to tuck herself under it. “It’s okay, mi pequeña patita, we can just hide out in here until you feel like joining in again.”

  “Okay.” Merry’s voice was barely a whisper. “Aunt Tabbie?”

  Tabitha knew that look. “Would you like me to get you some food?”

  Merry looked up at Tabitha with such love in her eyes that Tabitha almost started to cry as well. “Yes, please.”

  Tabitha crawled out of the netting and went over to the table to grab a couple of plates for her and Merry. She returned Peter’s wink when he turned from his conversation with John to acknowledge her and got to loading the plates with Merry’s favorites from the cold buffet.

  Lillian left the table where the children were eating. “Is she okay?”

  Tabitha nodded. “She’s a little bit tired.”

  Lillian looked at the party guests and chuckled. “They all are. It’s a hard life, being a three-year-old.”

  Tabitha took the two plates back to the bounce house and climbed back in, being careful not to spill the food. She was met by a tiny snore.

  “Oh, Merry,” she murmured, backing out of the bounce house to leave the plates to the side while she collected Merry.

  Merry didn’t stir when Tabitha picked her up gently and carried her to Lillian, totally exhausted by the energy she’d expended.

  A few of the other children were beginning to get sleepy too. Little hands rubbed tired eyes, and the yawns and rosy-cheeked faces of the children were enough to tell their parents that the party was almost over.

  Lillian stood by the door with Merry fast asleep in her arms and thanked them all for coming as they left, promising to send them video of Merry opening their gifts when she woke up.