A Galactic Holiday

by Stacy Gail, Sasha Summers, Anna Hackett

  “I’ve never felt pain like that.” She sat up, arms wrapped around her waist. “But I was still more afraid of falling through the lake.”

  She ripped off one boot and shoved her trouser leg up. Her sock was frozen solid.

  He crouched by her. He tore the sock off and rubbed her foot and calf with his hands. “You crash off a cliff and survive an avalanche and this is worse.”

  “I suppose we all let horrors of the past rise up and affect what we live in the present.” She looked him straight in the eyes. “Don’t we?”

  He couldn’t argue with her. “We should run the medscope over this, just in case.”

  “Oh, Fria.” Her face turned white. “I lost the backpack.”

  Crap. Somewhere in the melee, the pack had landed in the snow or the lake.

  “We’re alive, that’s what counts.” He rubbed her foot harder until her skin turned pink. “That’s the best we can do for now. We need to keep moving. The lake won’t hold him off for long.”

  Savan stared across the ice. The sun reflected off the surface, and the fishing station was barely visible on the far edge. No, their pursuer knew they were alive and in which direction they were headed. He’d be back.

  And Savan was afraid that if their hunter didn’t want them dead, he wanted to do something a lot worse to them.

  Brinn tossed her sock into the snow and slipped her boot back on without it. Not ideal, but they had no other option. “I’m ready.”

  Savan pulled her up, then turned and headed north.

  His eyes ached. He felt like the bright whiteness was searing into his brain.

  “Savan, you’re going the wrong way.”

  He kept going. “He’ll expect us to head south to the road.” Savan looked up at the harsh mountains. “We have to do what he’d least expect.”

  “We won’t survive another night in the mountains.”

  He tossed her a tight smile. “I thought we did nicely on our first night.” He let his gaze drift down her long legs. “Very nicely.”

  She tried to fight a smile. “That may be, but we mightn’t find shelter this time.”

  Now he moved back to her, tugging her close to his body, inhaling the fresh scent of her. “We’re together. If I’ve learned nothing else in the last day, it’s that you and I are a formidable team. Whatever else gets thrown at us, we’ll survive.”

  “You really think so?”

  He traced a thumb over her lips. “I’d stake my Guild membership on it. Besides, I won’t mind another night in the cold, if I have you to keep me warm.”

  She gave a hiccupping laugh. “Okay.” She frowned. “Your eyes are hurting.”

  He nodded, swiping at the tears leaking from his eyes. “Burning a little.”

  She cursed. “Sorry, I should have thought of this.” She swung the emergency pack off her back.

  “What?”

  “Photokeratitis.” She held up a sleek pair of snow goggles. “Snow blindness. These will help.”

  “You should wear them.”

  With a smile, she slipped the goggles onto his face. “I don’t need them. My eyes are adapted to the snow.”

  He stared at her unique ice eyes. “Really?”

  She slung the pack onto her back. “Only about ten percent of the population have them. Now, let’s get moving.”

  The goggles helped. They trudged through the snow, but as the hours passed, their energy and optimism slowly drained away.

  Ahead of them, billowing snow clouds churned above the jagged mountain peaks.

  Savan hoped he hadn’t lied when he told her they’d survive.

  Chapter Nine

  The first snowflake fell.

  Brinn held out a gloved hand and caught it. Such a delicate thing, but the harbinger of terrible things to come.

  She looked up. The gray sky churned and boiled like the foretelling broth of a Vala prophetess. The temperature was dropping. The snowstorm was going to rain down on them with violent fury.

  “We need to find shelter,” she said.

  Cliffs of ice rose above them. Huge hunks of broken ice were scattered on the ground. Snow wasn’t the only danger.

  “I think I spotted a cave above.” Savan’s gaze was trained upward. “We’ll have to climb up.”

  Up? She scanned the near-vertical wall. Was the man crazy?

  She watched him run a hand over the ice, almost in a caress. It made her remember the feel of those hands on her body.

  She shook her head. Not the time, Brinn.

  He found a small crack and gripped it. Then he was climbing, using his hands and feet to feel out other cracks. “Race you to the top.”

  Of all the times for the man to discover his sense of humor. Squaring her shoulders, Brinn shoved her boot into a larger crack. She felt out another crevice above her head and pushed upward.

  The cliff was more fractured than it looked. As she climbed higher, many of the cracks were wide enough for her to slip much of her body inside.

  Then she slipped.

  A scream snagged in her throat. Her palms slid over ice before she managed to catch her grip. She clung, her body flat against the ice, her breath puffing out.

  “Brinn, you okay?”

  She looked up. Savan hung on the ice like an expert.

  “I thought you’d never been on an ice world.” She gripped a wide fracture. Her muscles strained as she pulled herself up. She needed to get to more physical-conditioning sessions. “How do you know how to scale ice cliffs and cross frozen lakes?”

  “The war.”

  The man moved with a lethal grace, skimming up the ice. Damn, he was attractive. All of him. The outside package, the nimble mind, the athletic grace...even his stony demeanor.

  “I spent time on a desert planet.” He sat on a ledge, waving her up. “Had to climb many cliffs and cross lava lakes.”

  His strong hand gripped hers. He pulled her onto the ledge. She collapsed beside him, letting her burning arms rest. Instead of a stunning view of the valley, all she could see was the murky white gray of falling snow.

  What he’d said triggered her memory. “Desert planet? You were on Kebira?”

  A moment’s silence. “Yeah.”

  Odinn, it had been the bloodiest battle of the Galactic Wars. Thousands of soldiers dead and wounded. After that, the warring planets had negotiated a peace treaty.

  But she suspected, for the warriors, it had taken more than the signing of a treaty at a pompous ceremony to make them forget the horrors of war.

  No wonder Savan worked so hard to outrun his past.

  “Come on.” He grabbed the ice above him. “One more climb and we’ll reach the cave mouth.”

  Did he have to sound so...eager? With a groan, she pulled herself up and faced the cliff again.

  Thankfully, it wasn’t long before she saw the black mouth of the cave. It wasn’t large, just a narrow opening in the ice. She watched him slide himself in sideways. Moments later, she followed him inside.

  A narrow tunnel arrowed back into the mountain.

  She shivered, wrapping her arms around her waist. The chill of the wind was gone, but it wasn’t much warmer than outside.

  He grabbed her hand and tugged her deeper into the cave.

  The tunnel wound through the ice, the floor slippery and undulating. They lost the murky light and Savan switched on the ion light.

  “It’s beautiful.” He studied the striated sidewalls.

  It looked like a frozen river. Bands of ice ranged from white to bright blues and all shades in between.

  “You should see the ice mines. The colors and shapes of the stalactites and stalagmites are amazing. All twisted and curved. It’s like some sort of fairy-tale world.” She wondered if
she’d ever get the chance to show him.

  The tunnel broke into two.

  “Which way?” she asked.

  “We’ll keep right.”

  She thought it had warmed a few degrees. She rubbed her arms. Maybe. “Do you think we lost the assassin?”

  “Can’t be sure. But the odds are good, especially with the storm covering our tracks.”

  The tunnel widened out into a small chamber. Stalactites hung from the roof, the ends of them glowing bright colors, like Yule decorations.

  “Stars,” Savan breathed, turning off the ion light.

  Reds, blues, greens and golds. The ice crystals cast a muted, multicolored light across the chamber. The fusion reaction inside them was powerful enough to power cities.

  “These crystals are much smaller than what I’ve seen, but we must be getting close to the mines.” Excitement drilled into Brinn. “If we keep working through the tunnels, we might end up in the mines.”

  Or they could get lost in the bowels of the mountains. Her excitement bled away, fatigue stealing in behind it.

  Savan touched a crystal. “It’s cool.”

  “The reaction’s completely contained by the ice.” Fusion was readily used throughout the galaxy, but you needed a hell of lot of energy and heat-resistant materials to contain the reaction.

  “We still need to complete our trade deal.”

  “You can have the crystals, Savan.” All thoughts of revenge, of making him and Rendar pay for their supposed crimes, had vanished. “I give you my word as a negotiator.”

  They’d both misunderstood each other. Both of them had been too arrogant to see the other’s point of view.

  Things had changed now.

  One of his rare smiles. “Once we’re safe, we’ll finish the deal. But top of my list will be us, locked in a room with a big, soft bed. No ice, no snow and no cold.”

  She gave him an answering smile. “No complaint from me.”

  His gaze was laser sharp, studying her. “We’ll stop here for a while.”

  She pulled a face. “I’m fine.”

  “You’re exhausted. Now rest.”

  “Yes, sir.” She was tired. She dropped to the floor and pulled off her gloves. They hadn’t slept much during the night. Not that she was complaining, but her arms and legs ached. Fatigue dragged on her like a too-big coat.

  “Hey.” A hand cupped her face. He’d removed his gloves as well, and his hand was warm. “You’re practically asleep sitting up.”

  “Tired.”

  He sank down beside her and pulled her into his lap. It was so nice to feel his protective body around her.

  She nuzzled her face into his warm neck, sliding her hands under his arms. “This wasn’t how I expected to spend Yule.”

  He stroked a hand over her hair.

  She closed her eyes at the gentle pleasure. Then felt guilty. “My family will be so worried. Their Yule will be ruined too. Mother will be upset. My brothers are probably tearing Skeolan and the mine apart looking for me.”

  “You’re very close to them.”

  She nodded. “Especially since my father died. It really pulled us together, made us realize how important family is.”

  For the first time, mentioning her father didn’t bring the tumult of guilt and grief. There was just the dull ache of sadness and the fond remembrance of the good times.

  “You’re lucky to have something like that in your life.”

  She heard a faint wistfulness in his tone. “Yes, I am.”

  “Your father would be proud of you, I suspect.”

  Looking up, she studied Savan’s set face. “You don’t know your father.”

  “No, but my boss, Kolar, he’s been a mentor to me. The closest thing I have to what I imagine a father must be like.”

  And Kolar wanted Savan to take over his job. “Then he must be proud of you and what you’ve accomplished in the Guild.”

  Savan’s frown deepened. “I suppose.”

  The man was crying out for a family, for love. She stared at the ice walls around them and instead imagined her mother’s home. There’d be decorations, the scents of Yule cooking filling the air, an evergreen tree loaded with baubles and more gifts than they all needed.

  She wanted to share that with Savan. See him laugh with her brothers and stepfather. Watch him savor her mother’s cooking. See his delight at opening a gift Brinn would have carefully selected for him, and of course, kiss her senseless under the mistel.

  Snuggling into him, she wondered why Savan, of all the men she’d ever met, made her feel like this. She’d never once wanted to share her family or Yule with any of the men she’d dated.

  He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Why don’t you have a quick nap? We can’t stay long, but we should be far enough ahead of the assassin.”

  She wanted to sleep, but as she lay there listening to the steady beating of his heart, sleep wouldn’t come.

  When this was over—if they escaped with their lives—Savan would leave Perma. He’d go back to Rendar, to the perfect life he’d planned for himself. This...moment would be gone.

  He’d once again be the stoic negotiator she saw briefly at trade conferences.

  She refused to be some easy space lay once or twice a year. She wanted more. She wanted what her parents had shared. A true partner who loved her.

  All she had with Savan was this adrenaline-charged, passion-fueled moment.

  She turned to face him, pressing kisses to his jaw.

  “I thought you were sleeping,” he said.

  “I can’t. My brain won’t shut down.”

  He angled his jaw to give her better access. She scraped her teeth over the light stubble coating his face. It was so sexy to see the usually perfectly groomed Negotiator Bardan looking a little rough.

  “Well, I’d be happy to help you unwind...”

  She smiled against his neck. “I just bet you would.”

  He snagged her hair and tugged her face to his. His kiss was slow, deep and drugging.

  Then he pulled back and sighed. “But we can’t take the chance, with this hunter on our trail.”

  She ran her fingers through his dark hair. “I know.”

  He cupped her face. “I like the way you look, Brinn.”

  A slow bloom in her chest. No man had ever looked at her the way Savan did. Like she was some delicious dessert for him to savor. “Right back at you, Rendarian.”

  He flicked at the top fastening of her shirt. His hand dipped inside, brushing her collarbone. “I wish we weren’t on the run, and had all the time in the galaxy.”

  She arched into his touch, her body filled with a gentle hum. Would it always be like this with him? A few simple touches and she melted.

  “I love your skin. So pale it glows, so delicate I can see your veins.” He traced over the upper slope of her breast. “I love your golden hair, your slim, strong limbs.”

  “Keep going.” She was breathless.

  “Your red lips make me think carnal thoughts.”

  She licked them and felt his body harden beneath her. Fria, she felt so powerful to know such a small move could affect a man like Savan so much. That he wanted her that much.

  “I love that quick mind of yours. You love your planet and want what’s best for your people.”

  She blinked. His praise of her body was nice, a sexy game. His praise of her, who she was inside, made her feel a deep warmth.

  Oh, she wished they could take the time to make love again. “Savan...”

  He didn’t say anything else. Instead, he pulled her close, his arms tight around her.

  With a shattering clarity, she realized she wanted to keep this man. He was hers. She wanted the chance to explore this passion, this c
onnection between them.

  She wanted to fall in love with him and show him how to love.

  Chapter Ten

  Savan sensed something different in Brinn.

  Her tempting body and glorious skin looked the same, but the way her slumberous eyes watched him made him feel a need to imprint himself on her. To make his scent sink into her skin so she’d always smell of him.

  He wanted to let the desire raging inside him off its tight leash. To know every inch of her. To take his time to love her.

  Gods, he wished they had all the time in the galaxy, not a few stolen moments in their race to survive. He wished they were locked in a sumptuous suite on Duna, the waves crashing on the shore. That she rested on a plump mattress covered in the finest Lalani silk sheets.

  But that wasn’t the case. And he wouldn’t put her at risk to satisfy his desires.

  Instead, he kissed her. The taste of her would have to hold him. She moaned into his mouth, moving restlessly against him.

  After this was all over, once they were safe, he’d look into booking that suite on Duna. Convince Brinn to take some time off.

  Time off. What was he thinking? He broke the kiss. He didn’t have time for a vacation.

  She wasn’t part of his plan.

  He had a job to go back to. A career he’d spent a lifetime carving out. And nightmares he couldn’t escape. Besides, what would a caring, family-oriented woman like Brinn want with a washed-up space marine turned ruthless trader?

  He moved her off his lap and onto the ground. “We should keep moving.”

  With a quiet sigh, she picked up her gloves. “Okay.”

  He slipped his gloves on and picked up his pack. He headed for the right-hand tunnel leading out of the cavern. “The more ground we cover, the more distance we put between us and the assassin.”

  “And the closer we get to the mines.” She paused. “I hope.”

  A patch of ice on the wall ahead of them shimmered.

  Savan stopped Brinn with an outstretched arm. It looked like the desert shimmers that had confused the troops on Kebira.

  A man in white materialized, thermal carbine trained on them.

  Reptilian black eyes stared at them through the head covering.