by Anna Hackett
“Yes.”
“Then come aboard, Captain Smooth.” He opened his arms. It looked like he was gesturing at his lap. “I’m all yours.”
That snicker came again, but this time she ignored it. She wasn’t entirely sure she had full control of her temper.
“Commander Tellis, arrange teletransportation for myself and the security team to the cockpit of the Mercury.”
Drayna was silent for a second before she nodded. “Yes, Captain.”
Nissa appreciated that Drayna didn’t question her need to go to the Mercury. Her friend had given Nissa plenty of lectures on her obsession with locking up Justyn Phoenix.
Seconds later, a bright blue light enveloped Nissa, the teletransportation beam twisting and turning around her. Then she was staring at Justyn Phoenix in the flesh.
He was standing now and she hated that she had to look up at him. She was tall for a woman and she wasn’t above using her height to her advantage on the job. Not an option here.
He was wearing dark-brown trousers that molded those long legs of his, a white shirt, and a navy vest, left open.
She caught the gaze of her head of security. “Commander Tryker, you and your team can start your search now.” The older man had been with Patrol a long time. Experienced, capable and dependable, she didn’t need to tell him not to miss anything.
“You got it, Captain.” His voice held a slight burr of his Tashian acent.
“Gus, give the commander a hand,” Phoenix said.
With a nod, the crusty old man headed off with Tryker and the security team.
Then it was just the two of them.
“I’m looking forward to slapping a set of electro-cuffs on you.”
Phoenix tilted his head and smiled. “Now, Captain, I always knew you had a little dominatrix under that starched uniform of yours.”
Nissa felt a flood of heat race through her. She stepped forward until her polished, black boots hit his scarred, brown ones. “You are a criminal and I will see you in the brig.”
He reached out and ran a finger down the side of her neck, briefly touching the start of the scale pattern on her skin. “I bet when people see that sexy reptilian pattern they think it might be rough. But it’s so smooth.”
She slapped his hand away. “Quit calling me that ridiculous name.”
“It suits you. That smooth caramel-gold skin with those tantalizing patches of pattern. Your long, elegant neck and sexy, bare head. Your deep, oh-so-smoky voice.” He leaned down and she felt his warm breath against her face. “We both know your security team won’t find anything. Same as the last time you searched me. And the time before that.”
The scent of him ambushed her. Crazily he smelled like the snow-dusted trees on her homeworld of Thusia. Damn him for smelling so good.
“You also know I don’t hurt anyone, don’t steal from anyone. Why do you have such a burning need to lock me up, Captain?”
“It’s my job.”
“But out here on the edge, no one really cares much about laws and rules.” He waved a hand. “Things are more fluid.”
“The laws and rules are there to keep order. To keep people safe.” Goddess, Nissa could almost hear her father’s voice. Commodore Sander lived and breathed Patrol, even though he’d retired several years ago. “If we start bending or ignoring the rules, the edge will turn into a lawless, chaotic mess in less time than that speedy runnership of yours can cross the galactic border.” The though of lawless chaos made her think of her brother. She felt a stab of pain and squelched it.
Justyn’s teeth were white against his tanned skin. “But Nissa, getting messy is so much fun.”
Nissa’s lips twitched. Goddess, he was the only person who could swing her from wanting to punch him to wanting to laugh in a matter of seconds. “Just stay out of the way while my team does their search.”
“Want to wager they won’t find anything?”
His confidence made her heart sink. She had the horrible feeling she’d be going away empty handed and red faced. Again. “No.”
“Come on. How about a case of that Gluk’sol wine you like to drink?”
She shook her head. Last time she’d been on Galaxy’s Edge—the closest and most popular space station on the edge—she’d let him buy her a drink. It was an unwritten rule on Galaxy’s Edge that you left your feuds and quarrels at the spacedock.
In the space station’s bars and clubs, off-duty Patrol officers rubbed shoulders with smugglers, wealthy merchants drank with career thieves, and missionaries danced with pleasure workers. The damned smuggler had gotten her tipsy, made her laugh, and let his thigh brush against hers at the bar one too many times.
She was woman enough to admit she wondered what it would be like to have Justyn Phoenix spread out beneath her—naked and available for her hands to explore.
But she was a Patrol captain. An ambitious one who was good at her job. So she never let the fantasy go past that. She imagined what her father would have to say about Phoenix. She winced. None of it would be good.
“Captain Sander?”
Her comms specialist’s voice came through her nano-earpiece. Nissa kept her gaze locked with Phoenix’s silver one and touched her ear. “Go ahead, Ensign.”
“There’s a Pri-One transmission for you. From HQ.”
A priority one meant something big. “I’ll be there in a minute.” She heard the distinct step of Patrol boots headed back into the cockpit. Tryker entered, his face dark. He shook his head.
Nissa sighed. “One of these days, Phoenix, I’m going to catch you with your pants down.” As soon as the words left her mouth, she cursed herself.
The laugh lines around his mouth deepened. “Oh, I hope so, Captain Smooth. I hope so.”
She gave his handsome face one last peruse, then looked at her team. “Back to the Freedom.” The teletrans flared and the last thing she saw was Justyn’s silver-gray eyes.
Back on the bridge, she strode toward her ops room off the bridge. “Ensign Gat’nar, put the Pri-One through to my private console.”
“Yes, Captain.”
Nissa pressed the palm plate beside the door. The ops room was actually two rooms—the larger, main room with a glossy conference table and an adjoining room that was her private office. She loved that her office had a large, round window that gave a stunning view of space. Something inside her eased. The sight of the black—covered in a sprinkle of stars—never failed to speak to something in her. As she rounded her desk, she caught a glimpse of the very back of Phoenix’s runnership. Her gaze narrowed on the engine intakes. If she wasn’t mistaken, he had some not-strictly-legal modifications.
She shook her head. Justyn Phoenix wasn’t her priority right now.
Dropping into her chair, she touched the screen built into her desk. Admiral Carmel DeRuyter’s stern face fill the screen, her ash-blonde hair a sleek bell surrounding features untouched by the popular anti-aging treatments. DeRuyter had been a mentor to Nissa since her days in the Galactic Security Services Academy. Nissa respected the older woman, who’d come through the Sector Wars, and was tougher than most sitting on the GSS Council. Most of all, DeRuyter was willing to do anything to protect the galaxy.
“Ma’am, what can I do for you?”
“It’s good to see you, Nissa. I wish I was calling under better circumstances. We have a situation and you’re the closest ship we have.”
Nissa waited for the woman to continue, feeling a flare in her blood.
“Exactly seven hours ago, the US Constitution document was stolen from the Galactic Institute of Historical Preservation.”
“What?” Nissa sat forward. “The US Constitution. One of the five Galactic Constitution Codices?” It was one of the most revered manuscripts in the galaxy, used as a foundation for the Galactic Constitution. And it was priceless.
“Unfortunately, yes,” the admiral said.
“Do you know who took it?”
“We have some partial intel. Galactic In
telligence managed to intercept a transmission, but they only got a small amount. We don’t know who stole it or why, but we know they’ve passed it off to a gridrunner named Hewett Kenth.”
A gridrunner. A small transporter, not unlike Phoenix, who moved all manner of things around the galaxy. Usually legal cargo, but everyone knew that gridrunners were known to go off-grid and run all kinds of contraband.
Hewett Kenth was a familiar name. He ran through the Exodus quadrant in his runnership, the Trader’s Dart, and kept a small base at Galaxy’s Edge. She’d arrested three times…no wait a minute, four. “I know Kenth. He’s strictly small time. I can’t see him getting involved with something this.”
“Well, he must have decided to join the big leagues. He’s to rendezvous with someone at Galaxy’s Edge Space Station and hand over the artifact.” DeRuyter’s blue eyes glittered. “I want you to get it back and bring in everyone involved.”
“Yes, Admiral.”
The admiral smiled. “Pull this off, Captain, and I can finally arrange a transfer back to one of the central quadrants in your near future.”
Nissa straightened. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Update me regularly.” The screen went black.
Nissa stood and strode onto the bridge. “Get the interstellar drives up. We have a priceless artifact to recover.”
The Phoenix Adventures
Book 1: At Star’s End
Book 2: In the Devil’s Nebula
Book 3: On a Rogue Planet
Book 3.5 (novella): Beneath a Trojan Moon – Coming Soon
Book 4: Beyond Galaxy’s Edge – Coming Soon
Book 4.5 (novella): On a Cyborg Planet – Coming Soon
Beyond Galaxy’s Edge will be available in December 2014.
Don’t miss out! To ensure you don’t miss the release of the next book in The Phoenix Adventures, sign up for my new release newsletter at AnnaHackettBooks.com/newsletter
Also by Anna Hackett
The Anomaly Series
Time Thief
Mind Raider
Soul Stealer
Salvation
Anomaly Trilogy Boxed Set
The Phoenix Adventures
At Star’s End
In the Devil’s Nebula
On a Rogue Planet
Perma Series
Winter Fusion
The WindKeepers Series
Wind Kissed, Fire Bound
Taken by the South Wind
Tempting the West Wind
Defying the North Wind
Claiming the East Wind
Standalone Titles
Savage Dragon
Hunter’s Surrender
One Night with the Wolf
Anthologies
A Galactic Holiday
Moonlight (UK only)
Vampire Hunter (UK only)
Awakening the Dragon (UK Only) – Coming Soon
For more information visit AnnaHackettBooks.com
About Anna
I’m passionate about action romance. I love stories that combine the thrill of falling in love with the excitement of action, danger and adventure. I write about people overcoming unbeatable odds and achieving seemingly impossible goals. I like to believe it’s possible for all of us to do the same.
My parents are to blame for my insatiable need to mix action and romance. When I was young, I raided my mother’s romances and my father’s action adventure thrillers. I love being exhilarated and left just a little breathless. I love car chases, explosions and spaceships…and of course when the boy wins the girl. Oh, and I’m a sucker for that moment when the team is walking in slow motion, shoulder-to-shoulder heading off into battle. After reading, watching or writing an awesome action romance story, I’m left energized and feeling like anything is possible. I aim to give the same to my readers.
Website and blog – AnnaHackettBooks.com
Twitter – @AnnaHackett
Facebook – Facebook.com/AnnaHackettAuthor
Goodreads – Goodreads.com/Anna_Hackett
New Release Newsletter – AnnaHackettBooks.com/newsletter
Go back to Contents
Table of Contents
What readers are saying about The Phoenix Adventures
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Read the first chapter of Beyond Galaxy’s Edge
Also by Anna Hackett
About Anna