by Anna Hackett
The corners of his mouth lifted for the briefest moment. “You might be surprised.”
That small, unexpected smile transformed his tough face. Relda felt a flush of heat on her skin. Oh, no. She was not attracted to this man. No way.
His features sharpened on her for a second before they turned serious again. “Are you hurt anywhere I can’t see?”
A traitorous image of him peeling off her clothes and examining every inch of her skin made the heat intensify. “No.”
He nodded. “Okay, then I have a question for you. What is the Trojan Moon?”
Chapter Two
Relda Dela-Cruz was one of the most striking women Hunt Calder had ever seen.
A mass of brown curls cascaded over her slim shoulders and begged a man to tangle his hands in it. Her face shouldn’t have been beautiful—the line of her jaw was too strong, the blade of her nose too sharp. But combined with almond-shaped eyes of a deep nebula green and copper-brown skin, she was stunning.
Her lips were painted a vivid red designed to give a man fantasies. And her body…that gave him plenty of fantasies as well.
She covered it in flouncy skirts and that damned sash of coins that jangled whenever she moved. But the body was all generous curves and temptation, designed to bring a man’s cock to attention.
His certainly was whenever he was within a few meters of her.
“I have no idea what the Trojan Moon is,” she murmured, meeting his gaze head on.
She was tempting but she was also a liar.
She was damned good at it. If he wasn’t watching her so intently he might have missed the lie. But during his years in the Galactic Special Forces, he’d interrogated more people than he liked to remember. Added to that he was Predian and his race had exceptional hearing, smell, sight and reflexes.
He was an expert at spotting lies. And in Relda, he detected the trip in her pulse. And it was at odds with the rest of her. Her hands didn’t fidget, but stroked the edge of a fat, jewel-blue cushion beside her, calm and easy. She didn’t sweat or look uncomfortable, she was perfectly composed.
Too composed.
“So, you don’t know what this Trojan Moon is?”
She spread her slim, ring-covered hands wide. “The only trojan moon I know is up there.” She pointed upward. “The captured asteroid called Khan sits in one of Souk’s Lagrangian points of stability and co-orbits with the larger moon, Hilal. That makes it a trojan satellite. It’s also home to the Phoenix brothers.”
She sounded like a damned schoolteacher. And she was still lying. “Yes, I know about that trojan moon.” And the infamous treasure-hunting brothers who called it home. “But I don’t think that moon is what these men are after.” Hunt leaned closer. “It’s my job to protect the people of Medina and that includes you and your girls, Ms. Dela-Cruz. Help me out here. You don’t have any sort of artifacts that could be considered a moon?”
She shrugged. “I have several orbs in my tents, for decoration.”
He eyed the silver-pink ball on a small table nearby. Somehow it had escaped destruction. “You don’t use them to…tell fortunes?”
Relda tilted her head, her green eyes narrowing. “You don’t believe people have the ability to see the future, Marshal?”
“I’ve researched you.” He saw a brief flare of something in her eyes before she hid it. Curious. What did the lovely Ms. Dela-Cruz not want him to find in her past? “You take in disadvantaged girls who’d otherwise have to turn to pleasure working on the streets. You give them a place to stay in your home near the market. And you give them jobs working in your stalls. I don’t think they can tell the future any more than I can. You train them to give people exactly what your clients want, and you do it in a very lovely, staged setting.”
She shifted on the cushions. “I know my brand.”
“Yes. You do.” He’d noticed she never flirted with him. Around any other male—young or old—she was mysterious smiles, tilted head and fluttering eyelashes. At first, it had bugged him, because he had a powerful desire to strip her naked and wrap her long legs around his hips.
But then he’d realized what it really meant, because whenever he was with her, his acute sense of smell had picked up the faintest, most tantalizing hint of her arousal.
He found her fascinating. She pulled on so many different guises—fortune teller, businesswoman, flirtatious woman, savior of disadvantaged girls. He hadn’t worked out which was the real Relda, but he suspected he hadn’t seen her yet. His gut told him she didn’t show the real Relda to anyone.
He was also interested in the fact that when he’d run his searches on her, he’d found no reference of a Relda Dela-Cruz before she’d turned up on Souk four years ago.
Yeah, she was a sexy mystery he wanted to uncover.
But first, he had to keep her alive.
“I’m going to run searches on the Trojan Moon. You sure there’s not anything you want to tell me before I do that?”
She lifted her chin. “I’m sure.”
So, she thought he’d come up empty. Okay, beautiful, let’s see.
She stood with the elegant grace of a dancer. “Marshal, I really need to check on Alia and my other stores. I don’t want any more of my employees hurt.”
Hunt stood as well and took a step closer to her. He noted the way she stiffened. Most people would guess that she didn’t like him, but his senses picked up her racing pulse, the subtle change in her scent.
He gripped her chin, tilted her face up. “You need to be careful. Do you have a weapon?”
She raised her eyebrows.
Not a legal one, then. “Don’t tell me,” he growled. “Just keep it close and keep an eye out. I’m going to post a deputy to stay with you here at your store and to guard your house. You see anything that worries you, and I mean anything, tell him or call me.”
She blinked and he got the impression she wasn’t used to anyone looking out for her. “Of course, Marshal.”
And there was that cool, composed tone she saved just for him. He suppressed a smile and stroked a thumb across the smooth skin of her jaw, watched something flicker in her eyes. “I wouldn’t want anything to happen to you.”
Her mouth opened. Those luscious red lips taunting him.
She leaned into him a little. With her vivid personality, she seemed taller but the top of her head barely reached his shoulder. Her full breasts pressed against his chest and he cursed the vest he always wore.
He cupped her cheeks in his hands. “Relda—”
The door flap opened again and Dale Westin, the deputy Hunt had sent out after the intruders, returned. Westin looked at Hunt touching Relda, his eyes widening.
Hunt cursed under his breath. He reluctantly let his hands drop and stepped back. Relda looked over his shoulder.
“Sir, no sign of the men. And I’m sorry, but there’s been an altercation at the spaceport. A starfreighter crew is brawling with the crew of some luxury starcruiser that just landed in port. The Port Master is asking for you.”
Hunt sighed. Sometimes he missed his Special Forces days. Who knew that wars and commando missions were easier to handle than the day-to-day problems on a market planet?
He shot Relda a look. “Ms. Dela-Cruz, remember what I told you.”
She nodded, all cool and calm again. “Yes, thank you, Marshal. I should get this mess tidied up.”
“Not until my forensics team do a sweep.”
She heaved a sigh. “Fine.”
She wouldn’t call him. But damned if he was going to leave her to a big, juicy target for whoever was looking for her and this mysterious Trojan Moon.
He’d have one of his deputies watch her here at the stall. But at night…
At night, he’d keep a special eye on her himself.
***
Relda straightened the cushions in her tent, preparing for her last appointment of the day. Looking at it, no one would know there’d been a fight the evening before that had torn the place up.
Or that Marshal Calder’s forensics team had worked into the night running their high-tech scanners over every inch of it.
They hadn’t found anything helpful. Some skin cells from an aquatic who clearly didn’t have a record.
This morning she’d had the tent cleaned, the slash in the wall repaired, and she’d brought in more decorative items from her house.
With a sigh, she stopped to touch a hand to her aching temple. Despite getting Alia healed and settled last night, and despite taking a long bubble bath, Relda hadn’t slept well. When she had drifted off, it was to nightmares of faceless men chasing her demanding the Trojan Moon. But the end of each dream morphed into something different—finding herself in Marshal Hunt Calder’s strong arms.
Calder…got to her. In ways she wouldn’t let a man get to her ever again. No, the less she saw of Marshal Hunt Calder, the better.
She really hoped the idiots who’d attacked her and Alia were no longer on Souk. But Relda had given up on foolish dreams a long time ago.
They’d come for the priceless artifact again.
She massaged her temples and willed the headache to dull enough to get her through her last appointment.
Female voices at the entrance of her tent told her that her clients had arrived.
“This is silly, Eos.”
“Come on, Ria, it’ll be fun.”
Relda summoned a smile. “Ladies, welcome.” She nodded at Deputy Westin standing like a protective statue outside the tent. He’d been there all day. He gave a tiny nod before once again staring straight ahead.
She focused on the women. She recognized the beautiful brunette and tall, athletic blonde instantly. Most people in the market knew of the Phoenix Brothers. The treasure hunters often purchased their supplies in the market.
Many a Soukan lady had been disappointed when the most infamous of the brothers, Dathan, had married the lovely Vedic archeologist, Eos Rai. She stood smiling at Relda, her dark hair braided over her shoulder and her floral mehndi designs visible on her crossed hands. Her aura was many shades of pink—happiness, warmth and love.
The other woman would be the former assassin, Ria Dante—now Phoenix—who’d married the youngest Phoenix brother, Zayn. Her face had been splashed across the news after a scandal in the Assassin’s Guild. Her aura was a deep indigo with edges of pink—relaxed and in love.
Relda got them settled with tea. “So, you’d like to know your futures?”
“Not me.” Ria took a sip of her drink. “I think knowing what’s coming, if that were even possible—” she shot Relda a skeptical look “—is not helpful in any way. No offense.”
Relda detected no ill will in the woman’s vibrant, healthy energies. “No offense taken.” Relda tilted her head. “Why do you think it isn’t helpful?”
“A few years ago, if you’d told me my future, you’d have told me I was going to die.” Ria held her hands out. “Yet, here I am.”
Relda had read about the terrible things that had happened to the woman in the Devil’s Nebula. “Point taken.” Relda looked at Eos. “But you’d like to know your future?”
Eos shrugged. “Sure, why not? I mean, I love my life and I have no doubt my future is going to be filled with wonderful things.” Her gaze turned slightly dreamy, a smile on her lips.
Relda didn’t need her abilities to know the woman was thinking of her husband. A sharp pang hit Relda’s belly. She’d never feel that way about anyone. Couldn’t let anyone close enough to let it happen.
The astro-archeologist smiled. “I find the history of fortune-telling and divination so interesting.” She lifted her teacup. “Did you know there are ancient Terran records that talk about telling one’s futures from reading tea leaves? It was called tasseomancy.”
Ria rolled her eyes. “Ignore her. She gets like this all the time. Can spout more old Earth facts than a biocomputer.”
Color swept Eos’s cheeks. “Sorry.”
Relda smiled and studied the minute color changes in the woman’s aura. She was intelligent, and loved her work almost as much as she loved her husband. Relda let her gift crack open and a trickle of power flowed through her. It was a hot and cold sensation and she felt her mind expand.
“You’ll have many more adventures in your life. You’ll fight with your man, make up, butt heads and laugh together.” Everything a proper partnership should be. “You trust and love the man who is yours and he will never betray that.”
Eos’s dark eyes watched Relda intently. “I know that.”
She couldn’t comprehend what a gift that was. “He’s already given you a family, but in the near future, you will also create your own.”
The brunette’s mouth dropped open, her hand dropping to her stomach.
Relda smiled. “Not now. You have a few more adventures to survive yet. But one day soon, you’ll make new life.”
Ria let loose a laugh. “God, I cannot wait to see Dathan Phoenix as a father.”
“He’ll be a good one,” Eos said defensively. “He’s had some practice with Lala.”
He would be a good one, but Relda didn’t say it aloud.
“That girl keeps us all on our toes,” Ria muttered.
Relda raised a brow.
Eos was fighting a smile. “An opinionated, teenage explosives expert we kind of adopted.”
Ria snorted. “Adopted? She just moved in and never left.”
Eos’s gaze moved back to Relda, fierce intelligence and speculation burning in her golden eyes. “My husband has a set of Terran Tarot cards. They aren’t complete and some are damaged, but the imagery is beautiful. You don’t use cards or scry using one of these orbs?” She nodded to the globe on the table nearby.
“No.”
“What’s your background?”
“I was raised on the Brielle Space Station.” The well-practiced lie slipped out easily. “My mother was human and I never knew my father.” A long way from the truth.
“You see auras.”
Relda nearly swallowed her tongue. “Excuse me?”
“On Vedia, we had ashans—spiritual adepts—who could tap into the universe’s energies. I saw the way they looked at people. Not at them, around them. You do the same.”
Relda scooped up the teacups and took them behind the fabric divider. “I’m a businesswoman, Eos, not a…spiritual adept.”
“You want me to believe you’re a charlatan.”
Relda ducked back out, smile in place. “You can believe whatever you like.”
“Do you have other psionic powers?”
Relda pressed her hands together. “I’m sorry, time’s up. I have some work to do before I leave for the day.”
Ria stood, a smile on her lips. “That was the nicest blow off I’ve heard in a while.” She winked at Relda. “It’s been interesting.”
“Likewise.” Relda was surprised to find she meant it. She liked them both.
“I’m sorry I made you uncomfortable.” Eos’s smile was sheepish. “I’m insatiably curious.”
“It’s fine.”
“Well, thank you.”
After they’d left, Relda tidied the tent. She wanted to get home and check on Alia. She also wanted to check in with the deputies the marshal had arranged to keep eyes on her other stores.
There was no sound, but Relda suddenly knew she wasn’t alone. She felt the brush of the men’s auras against hers like a prickle of something sharp and biting.
The aquatic and his bad-smelling friend were back.
Relda turned. They’d come in through the back and were watching her intently. She glanced at the front of the tent.
The aquatic gave her a sharp smile and held up a tiny device. “It’s a sonic suppressor. The man out front won’t hear a thing. But if you do manage to involve him, don’t think we won’t take great pleasure in killing him.” The aquatic shook his head. “We just wanted the Trojan Moon, but now my friend, Maz here, would like a little time with you as well.”
Maz sneered. “I want re
venge, bitch.”
Chapter Three
He intended to hurt her, then kill her. Relda saw the flash of his intent in his energies. It was a spreading dark cloud that sucked all hint of color away.
Maz sprang forward, fast and brutal.
Relda threw herself to the side, landing on her hands and knees. But today surprise wasn’t on her side and this time he was fueled by anger.
He grabbed at her legs, trying to pull her backward.
Wildly, she scanned ahead of her. The table nearby had one of her smaller orbs balanced on top on a tiny, black stand. She reached up, her hand scrabbling at the edge of the table.
“No you don’t.” A hard hand chopped into the small of her back.
Relda winced. Pain radiated up her spine. He finally got a good grip around her knees and yanked her backward.
As he dragged her, she grabbed the edge of the table. It tipped slightly and the orb rolled off onto the rug. Relda grabbed it, twisted, and threw it like a champion VelocityBall player.
Her awkward position meant her throw lacked power. But there was nothing wrong with her aim.
The heavy crystal smacked into Maz’s head, knocking him sideways.
Relda jumped up. Adrenaline rushed through her veins, but something else was also stirring. She pressed a hand to her belly, willing herself to stay calm. “Leave now and I won’t hurt you.”
Maz’s eyes were narrowed to tiny slits and blood oozed sullenly down the side of his face.
The aquatic straightened, his gaze wary. “We just want the Moon.”
“It’s not here. And even if it was, I still wouldn’t give it to you. Now leave.”
“We aren’t going anywhere without the artifact. It’s worth millions of e-creds and our employer...dislikes it when he doesn’t get what he wants.”
“Last chance.” She kept her tone breezy, but her heart was hammering. She couldn’t risk using too much of her power. It had been a long time since unleashed the full force of it, and her lack of training left her…unstable. Trying to scare these two might lead to her wiping out the entire market. Or worse.