Savan held out a small laser igniter in one shaking hand.
She managed a smile through her cold lips. “Thanks.”
Seconds later a fire blazed brighter and hotter than any synfire she’d seen.
A search of the bedrooms yielded some icy blankets. She dumped them in front of the fire to defrost and turned to Savan.
She worked to keep her tone businesslike and said the one thing she’d never have thought she’d say to him. “You need to get out of those clothes.”
A slow nod. “First, check...the building.” He held out a laser blade with a well-worn hilt. “No one hiding.” His speech was slow, his eyes glazed. “Secure the location.”
“Fine.” She didn’t want to point out that if someone did attack her, she wasn’t sure she could stick them with a blade.
After a quick lap of the building—which turned up one small, spitting snow lynx who’d taken up residence in an office and a whole lot of spooky emptiness—she returned to the fire.
Savan had pulled off his gloves but was still clothed and shivering.
She set his blade down beside him. “Savan, you need to get out of those clothes.”
He blinked, then fumbled at his collar with a shaking hand. He must have released a mechanism she couldn’t see, because suddenly the suit parted to his waist, displaying a swath of tanned, muscled skin.
Suddenly Brinn didn’t feel so cold.
When he didn’t strip the suit off, she moved closer. “Savan?”
“Too cold.”
She yanked her gloves and the ion light off. She grabbed his hand, helping him to stand. Staring at his fingers, she noted the tips were white. Oh, no. Her stomach did a bile-churning roll. Frostbite.
Losing fingers would be the least of his problems if she couldn’t get him warm. She ran her hands up his chest, catching the edges of his suit. She pushed it off his broad shoulders.
Merciful Fria, the man was put together so very, very well.
The suit fell to his waist and Brinn just stared at all that chest. Then she noticed his goose bumps and tight nipples.
The man was freezing to death, and she was busy ogling him like a Mohini pleasure worker. Hurriedly she pushed the suit down. It hit the ground with a wet slap.
Brinn froze. Apparently Rendarians didn’t wear underwear.
Wide shoulders narrowed to slim hips. His legs were thick and muscled. Tanned skin was dusted with a light coating of dark hair.
Look away, Brinn. She tried not to look at anything else, but she couldn’t drag her eyes away. His cock was long and thick, even though he was wet and cold.
She snatched a blanket off the floor. “Here.” She wrapped it around him. “Now sit in front of the fire.”
Once he sat in the nest of blankets, she stripped off her own clothes. She wrapped herself in a blanket and sat next to him, careful to keep a cautious distance between them.
Not in a million stellar years would she have guessed she’d end this day naked with Savan Bardan.
Now they were safe, tiredness roared in on her. She hadn’t realized how cold she felt. Her fingers and toes were numb and small shivers gripped her.
Pushing through the marrow-deep fatigue, she reached over and dragged his small backpack closer. She pulled out the medscope. “I assume this little baby can treat frostbite?”
A slow nod.
She scooted closer and urged him to hold his hands out. She activated the scope and ran it over his hands. Before her eyes, she watched the whiteness on his fingers recede. Amazing.
Deciding to be cautious, she also treated his feet and face.
“It also cleans away any biological residue.” His voice still held a deep rasp. “It’ll clean the blood off your hair.”
With a nod, she gave him her back and ran the scope over her entire body. The light didn’t give off any warmth and it certainly wasn’t as nice as a hot bubble bath, but she felt cleaner.
Soon they sat side by side, bundled up in the blankets. Every muscle ached and weariness weighed her down. She needed something to take her mind off her slowly thawing body.
“You’ve had military training.”
He glanced her way and she frowned. His green eyes still looked glazed, his face pale and his lips blue. He should have been warming up.
“What makes you say that?” His voice was low.
She shrugged one bare shoulder. “Just the way you handled things during and after the crash. The calm way you handled the avalanche.” A wan smile. “And you give orders like you’re used to people obeying.”
“I was a space marine in the Galactic Wars.”
She sucked in a breath. “You can’t have been old enough!”
The bloodiest wars on record had almost torn the galaxy apart. Thankfully Perma had been too far from the central planets and too insignificant to be involved in the conflict.
“I was eighteen when I went to war.” He hunched his shoulders, pulling the blankets closer. “Once the war was over, I wanted a job with no battles and no killing.”
So he’d become the toughest negotiator in the galaxy.
A massive shiver racked him and he groaned. Damn, he wasn’t warming up fast enough. She chewed on her bottom lip. Every Perman child had the treatments for hypothermia drilled into them from childhood.
She stood and let her blanket drop to the ground.
Savan slowly raised his head, his gaze sliding up her body. “What are you doing?”
She tugged his blankets open and slid her body in against his. “You’re freezing, and the fire isn’t warming us fast enough.” She tangled her legs with his and closed the blankets around them in a warm, tight cocoon. “We need to share body heat.”
“Body heat.” His voice had deepened. His hands dug into her sides.
“Lie back.” She urged him back and laid her head against his chest. His strong arm clung to her, holding her tight.
Being so close to him overwhelmed her. Despite everything they’d been through in the last few hours, he still smelled good—that scent of ocean breezes.
She trembled. This time not from the cold.
The man had hypothermia. He needed her help. She shoved that desire down deep.
But she couldn’t stop her hand pressing against his firm chest. “Get some rest, Bardan.”
* * *
Savan woke to the sound of a crackling fire and soft feminine breaths.
His entire body was warm—a feeling he’d been sure he’d never experience again. Instead of aching cold, now all he felt was the exquisite softness of Brinn’s bare skin pressed against him.
She was wrapped around him, almost lying on top of him. One of her long legs rested across his stomach. The warm feel of her was a sensation he didn’t want to give up.
Looking down, he saw the mass of golden hair spilling across his chest and the profile of her beautiful face. Gods, her skin was so translucent. It was so delicate and yet she was one tough woman. She’d kept him going the last few hours.
Without each other, neither of them would have survived.
He knew he needed to think about who the hell was trying to kill them. But for now, the priority was keeping warm and getting some rest. Hopefully their assassins believed they were currently buried under tons of snow.
Brinn stirred, her cheek rubbing against his chest. Sensation twisted through him and he tightened his arms. He felt the swell of her breasts against him and his body responded.
Hell. The last thing she needed was his erection poking into her belly.
She wiggled a bit, settling back against him. He gritted his teeth, searching for some of his famous control. He recited the rules of the Code of Conduct in his head. Anything to keep his mind off the beautiful woman in his arms.
Be
autiful naked woman.
She let out a sigh.
“You awake?” he asked.
She nodded, her hair sliding over his skin. “Still cold?”
Gods, as she spoke her lips brushed against him. What had she said? Cold? Heated desire blasted through him and he couldn’t remember what cold felt like. He cleared his throat. “No.”
She made a small humming noise and shifted. Her leg slid over him. He gritted his teeth and stared at the ice ceiling.
He knew what she tasted like now and he wanted more. He admitted to himself that he’d been attracted to her cool beauty from the very first time he’d seen her.
His time on Perma—everything they’d gone through together—had changed appreciation to blazing need.
Grinding his jaw, he fought his body’s response. She’d given him no indication she felt the same way. She was looking for warmth, nothing else.
Her hand opened, her palm pressing over his heart. Then her fingers traced a lazy circle over his skin.
Did she know what her innocent touch was doing to him? This was Brinn Fjord. She hated him. Maybe they’d taken the steps to understand their past animosity, but he couldn’t read anything into this. No matter how much he wanted to.
He felt the brush of her lips on his skin. Her breasts were flush against him, her nipples hard. His body ignited, his cock so hard he was in pain. He swallowed a groan.
Then she sat up and straddled his lap.
Her slim legs slid along his hips. The warm, private part of her brushed over his engorged erection.
He sucked in a breath, his gaze searching her face. Molten desire burned in her ice eyes. Her lips parted and her cheeks flushed with color.
Savan surged up and cupped her face. He tangled his hands in her hair, tilting her head back. “You’re teasing me.”
A brief smile, all too feminine. “I wanted to see just how noble you’d be.”
He was known for giving no quarter at the trade tables. “I’m not noble.”
The smile widened, flashing straight white teeth. “You are. More than you realize.”
When she lifted her hips up, then sank back against him, the mind-blowing sensations scattered his thoughts.
“I want you.” She leaned forward and nipped the point of his ear. “We could have died in the explosion, the crash, in the snow. I want to know I’m alive.”
Desire warred with his brain. “We’ve been through a lot. I don’t want to take advantage of you.”
“See, noble.” Her hands slid over his shoulders, tracing the lines of muscle. “I want to explore this warrior’s body, find what touches make you groan. And then I want you inside me.”
Her words fanned the flames. He struggled for control. “We shouldn’t do this. There are reasons.” He was sure there were reasons. They just escaped him right now.
“Really?” She lifted again, and this time the mushroom head of his cock was trapped at her slick folds. “Well, just so you know, I have a Namah implant.”
An implant popular all over the galaxy for preventing pregnancy and disease. “I do, too.” Gods, she was so hot, he was going to combust and melt the ice floor beneath them. “But we just survived a trauma. Emotions are heightened. You’re still recovering.”
There. That sounded convincing, even if his tone was less than confident.
“You sure you’re the best negotiator this side of the Hadron belt?” She sank down an inch and enveloped just the tip of his cock.
The feel of her tight, wet clasp sent his head spinning. His hands cupped her buttocks, digging into cream flesh. “Brinn.” He could only manage to choke out her name.
“Your arguments aren’t sound. Yes, we survived. So what better way to celebrate being alive than taking what we want. Affirming life. And I’m one hundred percent recovered. As are you.”
She sank a little farther, taking him deeper inside her. He watched her lips part, her eyes widen with pleasure.
She wanted this. She wanted him.
And he wasn’t going to deny her. Either of them.
He gripped her bottom and forced her down with one hard shove. The entire length of him lodged deep inside her.
She cried out, her back arching. Her golden hair spilled everywhere. Then she started to move. Fast and hard.
“Yes.” His gaze stayed glued to her face and the emotions streaming over it. “You are so beautiful.”
“I’m not like your curvy Rendarian beauties.”
“Thank the gods.”
She let out a choked laugh.
She fit him so well. He watched her small breasts bounce with her movements. Next time he’d take the time to explore her porcelain skin, tease her rose-colored nipples and taste the honey between her thighs.
“I love your long legs. I love that your breasts are just the perfect handful.” He let one palm caress the curve of her buttock. “You have everything in all the right places.”
“There’s that trader’s tongue.”
He fit his mouth against hers and kissed her with all the passion churning inside him. She kissed him back—a wild kiss that left him at the brink of control.
More than anything he wanted to watch her splinter apart in his arms. From his touch. He slid one hand over her taut belly and down to the juncture of her thighs. Her mound was bare, not a single wisp of hair. Gods, help him stave off his release just a little longer.
He found her clit, swollen and hot, and circled it. Her gasps and moans made his cock even harder. Those sweet sounds drove him closer to the edge.
“Savan.”
Her body shook as her release ripped through her. She cried out his name and gave herself up to intense pleasure. Her inner muscles rippled around him, and he knew he wouldn’t last much longer.
The last of his tenuous control snapped.
Picking Brinn up, he turned, pressing her to the blankets on the floor. He tilted her hips and slammed himself inside her.
Chapter Six
Brinn reeled from her intense orgasm. Now she gripped Savan’s arms as he powered inside her.
By Fria, she’d never had sex like this. So intense, so primal.
She curled her legs around his hips and watched his face. It was a mask of tense need, his cheekbones tight against his skin.
Then his eyes found hers and she imagined she heard a click of connection. They stayed locked there as he continued his thrusts.
“It’s never been like this before.” His words were harsh, with a faint edge of amazement.
She knew how he felt. She felt blindsided by the same deep connection. They’d been rivals this morning, and fate had thrown them into situations most people never had to face.
They’d survived. Together.
“Come inside me, Savan.”
He groaned. “Not yet. Want to see you come again.”
Unbelievably, she felt the tension rising a second time. Her muscles tightened, heat building low in her belly.
He changed his angle so he was rubbing over her clit. Two more thrusts and she felt everything clench tight, then release in a liquid rush. She threw her head back in a soundless cry.
Savan thrust one more time and gave a deep groan. He stayed lodged deep inside her as his release took him over.
They collapsed in a heap, nestled among the blankets. Brinn’s heart beat a rapid pulse, and where her palm pressed against Savan’s chest, she felt a matching rhythm.
But soon the sheen of perspiration on her skin cooled and she shivered. The fire let off a blast of heat on one side, but on the other side, the room was still cold.
Savan rolled so she was trapped between the fire and his big body. He curled around her and flicked a blanket over their bare skin.
“Better?”
She smiled. “I’m not certain I’ve ever felt any better than I do right now.”
His fingers brushed through her hair. “Good.” A pause. “I feel the same way.”
Her smile widened and she watched the flames flicker in the fireplace. This must have been how it was for her ancestors before the synfire had been invented. The real blaze was so much more comforting.
“It’s Yule’s Eve.” Her family would be worried. She’d told them she’d be back from the mine in time to place the traditional Yule log on the fire with them.
“I’m sorry you aren’t with your family.” Savan sighed. “If Rendar hadn’t insisted on dealing today, we wouldn’t be here.”
She rolled to face him. The angles of his face were now so familiar. She traced a finger over the intriguing point of his ear. “It’s not your fault we’re here. The blame belongs to the bastards who tried to kill us.”
“We need a plan, Brinn.” Under the blanket, he ran a hand down her side, caressing her hip bone. “As much as I’d like to stay here, we can’t stay too long. If these assassins are professionals, they’ll want proof we’re dead.”
She swallowed. “You think they’ll come looking for us?”
The flickering flames sent shadows dancing across his frowning face. “It’s very possible.”
“They’d be crazy to search in the dark in the middle of a snowstorm.”
“Agreed. We’ll probably be safe tonight, but first thing tomorrow, we need to be moving.”
She thought again of her family. The horrible thought that maybe she’d never see them again. “This is not how I imagined spending Yule. On the run, lost in the mountains.”
“Hey.” He tipped her face up and kissed the tip of her nose. “Tomorrow we need to hike down the mountains and notify the authorities. But tonight we can celebrate your Yule’s Eve.”
“Really?” Her mind ticked over. There wasn’t much in this place, but they might be able to scrape enough together to make a makeshift Yule’s Eve feast. “Brilliant idea, Negotiator Bardan. I’ll show you how Permans celebrate.”
One of those rare, slow smiles. “I can’t wait.”
A Galactic Holiday Page 24