by Alison Aimes
“Now.” Her wrist, a shadowy blur in the weak light, shot upward.
He didn’t hesitate. Lurching back, boots pressed hard against the rocks, he tugged with everything he had. Grunting, straining, heart slamming against his ribs, as the sand above folded in on itself and he was sure she was going to sink deeper.
“No!” With a roar, he yanked harder, every tendon bulging.
The ground gave way. Sand and dirt flew.
Jade popped out as if spat from below.
Together, they careened backward, him onto his ass as she tumbled on top of him.
Gripping her tightly, he skittered back like a snake until his head slammed into the cave entrance wall. Solid ground.
They’d done it.
His body shook.
Light from the cave entrance showcased red-tipped lashes staring down at him. Every part of her, dark hair, white skin, pink cheeks, blanketed in crimson sand and dust.
He’d never seen anything so beautiful.
He’d been so sure he would lose her, too.
“It’s okay, Ryker.” The sound of her voice pulled him back from the edge, the glide of her fingertips over the rigid set of his jaw grounding him as nothing else could have. His heart rattled inside his chest. Reaching for her. Always for her.
“I’m alright,” she soothed. “We did it. Together. Everything is fine.”
She was right. Everything was fine now. Because she was alive and in his arms.
And he intended to keep it that way.
He wasn’t breaking another promise.
His mouth claimed hers.
30
Jade met his kiss with equal fervor. “You stayed for me.”
Another fierce kiss, this one to the corner of his mouth. Her warm, silky skin rubbing against his as she moved, stoking his need higher, making his dick hard as Dragath stone.
“You risked your life for me.” Another kiss to the other corner. Another rush of molten desire.
“You refused to give up on me.” She nipped at his chin. His chest. “No one has ever done anything like for me before.”
He gripped her face with both hands. “I’d do anything for you, Jade.”
She stiffened briefly. “Of course, you would,” she said at last. “We’re temporary partners. I’m going to save the fucking world and your ass, too.”
Her flippant response pissed him off. Mostly at himself.
Grabbing her jaw, he refused to let her turn away. “You matter to me, Jade. To. Me. Not because you’re out to save the universe, but because you’re smart and clever and determined and compassionate and blunt and a pain in the ass and broken and gorgeous and awkward as hell. Whether our time together is long or short, I’m here to stay. No more walls. No more cowardly emotional distance. I’m diving in to what’s between us head first.”
The flash of fear in her green eyes slayed him. “Ryker…”
“I mean every word.” He refused to squander any more of whatever time he had left with her.
Her gaze skittered away from his, the desire in her eyes cooling.
“Come.” Pushing off him, she stood and held out a hand. “I was briefed on a few more useful things about these cave systems besides rock wells.”
He knew deflection when he heard it, but he was also curious. Seizing her hand, he let her pull him up. He followed silently. Not too easy to do, when he had a lot still to say.
They left the cave—a happy occurrence in his view—only to have Jade slip into another tunnel a few cliffs down. He was about to protest when he smelled it. The faint briny, mineral scent of water.
Following her into a large rocky cavern, he saw it immediately. A small trickle of water from near the ceiling that wound down the far wall and made the rocks shimmer like black diamonds. For all its brutality, Dragath25 had rare flashes of beauty, too.
“What is this place?” He started forward, only to pause. “Any more of those rock wells?”
“No rock wells. Only a place to get clean. And naked.” Her gaze never left his as she unbuttoned her shirt.
More deflection. He was sure of it. But he wasn’t an idiot.
He chucked his coverings, and was following right behind her sexy, nude ass in the next heartbeat.
She stretched, raising her cupped hands to catch the water. His dick throbbed.
He’d almost fucking lost her. But even now, standing shoulder to shoulder, her lean body bared to his gaze, she hadn’t really returned to him. A wall of his making was still between them.
Her nipples crinkled as the cool water covered them. He bit back a groan, and forced himself to be patient.
He made it until they were both free of the worst of the dirt. Then, he moved to stand in front of her. “Jade—”
“Enough talk.” Skin shimmering and clean, she closed the gap between them, pressing her slick body against his. The heat of her body an erotic contrast to the cool water on his skin. “Come inside me. I need you.” She lifted her hips, rubbing her center along his already aching dick. Tempting him, a siren song he could barely keep from answering.
But he did. Because those shadows in her eyes remained.
Pressing his forehead to hers, he breathed her in. “I hurt you.”
She started to protest, then sighed instead. “You did.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I suppose that is the challenging side of caring for someone.”
His stomach somersaulted. Her admission making him feel a hundred feet tall.
She cared for him.
He willed his heart to stop slamming against his rib cage and manned up.
“Jade, you’re strong and smart and resourceful and extraordinary. Almost superhuman.” He blew out a breath. Tucked a strand of damp hair behind her ear. “But the truth is, you’re not. You’re fragile, just like every other person on this planet. Just like every other person I’ve ever cared about. Losing you will devastate me.”
Wary understanding flared in her eyes, but he wanted it spelled out.
“When I said you weren’t the kind to keep, it wasn’t what you thought. Jade, there’s not a man alive who, having met you, wouldn’t want you forever.”
She shook her head.
He followed her gaze and demanded she look at him, that she see exactly who he was and what he felt for her.
“But for a man like me, a man who thought he was over and done with love, who’d washed his hands of the terror and worry that goes along with caring for someone more than you do your own life, who’d decided two years ago to hoard the few broken pieces of his soul like a miser, you were the most terrifying thing I ever encountered. And I thought…I thought if I kept my distance, if I reminded myself often enough that you had a nano-bomb ticking away inside you, that our pasts were too different, that you were too much of a risk, that what was between us was only temporary and that was the way you wanted it, too, it would keep me safe.”
Her chest rose and fell against his, her heartbeat as wild and terrified as his own as she absorbed every word.
“But it didn’t,” he continued. “Because those broken pieces of my soul have already cleaved to you. The terror and worry that goes along with caring for someone more than you do your own life is already there, haunting me every time you take a step outside my arms. Because I’m falling for you, Jade.”
She gasped, recoiling in his arms—but he was ready. He gripped her close, rolled with her so that she was trapped between him and the wall of trickling water at her back, leaving her nowhere to run. And nowhere to hide from the truth.
“I’m falling for you, Jade. I know it’s fast. I know it’s crazy. But it’s real.”
“You’re not.”
“I am.”
“You can’t.” Droplets of water fringed her lashes, making her eyes glisten. “Expecting too much from me is a bad idea, even if we somehow find a way to get the operative to give me that deactivation code. I…I’ve done too much. I have too much blood on my hands. I worked for the same
people who killed your family. I tried to kill you. It…it’s not possible.”
“But it’s happening.”
“I don’t know the first thing about love.”
“That’s not what it feels like to me.”
This time, real tears blurred her eyes, turning them emerald-bright.
Tenderness hummed beneath his skin. Such a strong woman, one who’d never once complained or cried over the horrors she’d endured, and yet, she’d been brought to ground by three simple words. “It’s okay, Jade. I’m scared as hell, too.”
She blinked hard. “I do not do tears.”
He couldn’t help it. He grinned, his voice growing huskier as he wrapped a thigh around her and teased. “But for me, you’ll make an exception. Again.”
Her expression softened. “Only for you.”
“Good. I intend to be your forever exception.”
Her gaze narrowed. “Such arrogance.”
“Get used to it. We thick-necked felons have it in droves.” He nuzzled her neck, licked the water off her skin. “Along with stubbornness, a fierce protectiveness”—his expression sobered as he drew back to stare down at her—“and a scarred and bruised heart that is beginning to beat just for you.”
“Ryker.” His name on her tongue was heavy with need and sheer terror.
He hadn’t expected to find someone else in this indifferent universe who might awaken his soul and smack him back to life, but he had. He refused to waste a moment of whatever time they had left.
Eyes locked with hers, he palmed her perfect ass, lifting her until she was poised at the tip of his cock, her body glistening. “You ready for me to fuck you, Jade? Because this one’s going to be a combo deal. Fucking and loving. Just like you and I were meant to be.”
“Yes!”
He thrust deep, sealing them together.
They groaned in unison.
“Janus, Ryker.” Her voice was a throaty groan as she moved her hips, rising once more before, slowly, oh-so-slowly, grinding down. As if she, too, wanted to savor every moment, feel every inch of their joining. “That feels so good.”
“I’m going to make you feel good always.” He worked her up and down his shaft.
Her breath caught. That wariness in her eyes never lightening, even as her need blazed higher and her hips rose faster with every tender promise he whispered against her skin. Droplets rolled down their slick skin.
He didn’t need to hear her say she was falling for him, too. Not yet. He knew his own admission had shaken her to her core and she was still processing all he’d told her. That she believed, too, what she’d told him: that she didn’t know how to love, much less be loved.
But he knew differently. Her actions told him far more than her words ever could.
They moved together in unison. His big body dwarfing hers as her lean, long legs wrapped around his hips and they flowed as one. Like dancers. Fighters. Allies. Their bodies in sync, just like every time before. But there was a difference this time, too. This time, his mind and soul were right there with her. Rushing headlong into the blaze of need and want that only she could spark inside him.
He never wanted this moment to end. His throat thick as he stared down at her and her beauty hit him hard. Not so perfect anymore, she had a long thin raised line at her belly and scratches on her cheek and chest. Her cheeks were flushed, her hair, once a tight, controlled crown of braids, now flowed down her back in wild, wet clumps that stuck to her neck and back.
The cold marble goddess he’d first met had been replaced by a carnal, flesh and blood siren who made his breath catch in his lungs and his blood pound in time with his heart.
He tightened his grip on her hips and relished the silk of her wet flesh beneath his fingertips. More proof she was alive and real. Strong and fragile.
They’d made so many exceptions for each other: trust, tenderness, need. Shared parts of themselves they’d never given to another.
“I thought I’d lost you, Jade.” His throat worked overtime as he trailed kisses along her neck, his fingers playing with her clit, while his hips pistoned upward.
Her eyes darkened. “You’re never going to lose me. Not if I have a choice in the matter. Not unless you walk away.”
It was more than he’d expected this soon. A vow of her own.
He lost it. Hips surging. “I’ve been trying to chain you to me since the day we met.” He pressed his forehead to hers. “No way am I letting you get away from me now. You wreck me, Jade. But you heal me, too. We’re each other’s always exception.”
She came. Her tight pussy milking him as her body tightened and the walls of her cunt gripped him over and over.
It sent him over the edge, too. Thrusting deep as need and passion exploded outward from his balls to his toes in a supernova surge of ecstasy that ripped through him with a roar.
He’d spent so long running, but now he was facing what came next head-on. With her by his side. Together. Aligned in their goals. So much more than temporary partners.
His pleasure crested higher at the thought, his back bowing as another wave of ecstasy stabbed through him.
Pain and grief had twisted and changed him, but it had also made him stronger—the kind of man able to love a woman as fierce and brave as his warrior assassin.
He intended to spend the rest of whatever time they had left doing exactly that.
31
Jade’s unease followed her back to the cave.
“The bastard’s still out cold.” Grif paced near the entrance, spots of blood seeping through the newly changed bandages at his stomach and wrist.
Thanks to the addition of so many more people to their crew, the cave opening was the only place not crowded with people sleeping or talking in low, worried murmurs.
“He’ll wake soon.” Ryker used the same soothing tones he’d usually reserved for Marika and the others.
Despite her nerves, Jade hid a smile. The man sounded far too relaxed for her usual hotheaded felon. As if something—or someone—had recently mellowed him out.
Truth be told, she was feeling a little worn out herself.
After she and Ryker had dried off and hustled back to the others, they’d discovered an on-edge Grif, an injured Tyson, and the news that the gang member with the rotted teeth was still alive, and now their prisoner.
His capture was a welcome piece of good news. Especially after the frustration of losing the operative. All they needed now was for the prisoner to wake from his wounds so they could interrogate him.
Equally as promising, the laser strike that had hit Tyson had sliced through the flesh of his arm, avoiding anything vital. It likely hurt like hell and they’d have to watch for infection, but as long as Tyson was careful, he would heal.
Melody and Hope still had their father to watch over them.
All in all, a rotation she had thought would end with death had finished far better than expected. But that hadn’t stopped the butterflies that fluttered inside.
You wreck me, Jade. But you heal me, too. We’re each other’s always exception.
Everything she’d ever wanted. Except…
Happy endings weren’t meant for people like her.
“His injury is bad.” Grif’s tense voice jerked her from her thoughts. “What if he doesn’t wake up at all? We need intel about 223’s current hiding spot.”
No question about it, the charmer’s fractures were deepening. Even his eyes appeared more haunted, the grass-green color not as sharp as it had once been, his features gaunt.
“You should close your eyes for a bit.” Ryker wiped at the barrel of one of the lasers they’d taken off the prisoner. “Pushing yourself too hard won’t help you heal.”
“I’m fine,” grouched Grif, but he did sit down, his jaw clenched tight. “And, by the way, I’m not loving this role reversal. Since when did you become the calm one?”
“Since I realized there might actually be some things worth smiling about.”
Jade b
it the inside of her lip—the urge to grin almost impossible to resist. For such a big, fierce warrior, Ryker could be unbelievably sweet.
Head bowed instead, she kept at her current task, separating the remaining food supplies into short-term and long-term usage. With the arrival of the additional ex-captives, organization was needed to prevent the overcrowding from turning into chaos.
“Some things worth smiling about?” Grif’s gaze darted suspiciously between them as he repeated Ryker’s words. “What did I miss?”
“Tyson is awake and doing well.” The quiet pronouncement had them all swiveling toward the back of the cave.
Marika hovered in the passageway with Melody and Rafi.
Jade could barely process it. Marika? Speaking out?
Her arrival could not have come at a better time. Jade could only imagine what Ryker was about to say to Grif. For a hotheaded, closed-off soldier, he was proving terrifyingly comfortable with declarations of affection. The things he’d said to her…
Even more wonderful, Marika had voiced something besides tears and sobs. It was an excellent sign. A tremendous show of courage.
“He asked me to come and let you know.” Marika cleared her throat, her voice shaking with every word.
“That’s great news. Thank you.” Ryker was as kind as ever.
Even so, the female quaked, her breathing speeding up as her knuckles went white around the small hand clutched in hers. Even in the face of such kindness, the poor woman remained terrified.
But she didn’t run away.
Jade’s chest squeezed tight, her certainty that she’d done the right thing in helping these people asserting itself all over again. Especially as she took in Melody and Rafi, standing tall by Marika’s side, pretending not to notice the woman’s struggle to wrestle her terror under control.
Despite all that had been done to them, these people had not broken. They retained their humanity, their strength.
How shortsighted the Council had been to throw them away as if they were garbage. They were the universe’s best hope.
Mirroring the kids’ examples, Jade waited for Marika to regain control without reacting or rushing to her aid. Grif, on the other hand, tensed further with each rough, gasping breath Marika took. The look in his gaze one Jade had seen a time or two in Ryker’s. The big man wanted to sweep in and whisk the young female away, protect her from the fear.