He pressed inside of me, filling me up. How was this my life? I had thought, and it was the last coherent one I’d have for a while. He pulled out and then pressed back. I couldn’t believe how good this felt, how complete I was with him between my thighs.
I’d felt so much pain, taking his emotions inside of me. Now I had him actually with me, inside my body, my thighs wrapped around his waist, holding on for dear life. Anders wasn’t all pain and suffering. No, he was actually about pleasure, about adoration, about just feeling like everything really might be okay.
He kissed me as he moved, saying things into my mouth, words I could hardly understand. I loved them just the same. Everything in the whole universe was going to be okay, because he existed.
Yes, I was half out of my mind, but it was a wonderful lunacy. I would drown in this, I would live in this, I would… I never got that thought out, he jerked his hips along my clit, and I came, hard. I called out his name on a gasp, knowing that nothing would ever be the same for me. Not ever again.
He came on a sigh, hardly making a sound at all as he kissed all over my face, finally pushing his forehead to mine. He panted, having a hard time catching his breath, which made me smile. I’d made a Super Soldier lose his breath. That really was something.
Anders kissed my nose. “Don’t ever disappear on me, okay? I need to know where you are all the time. I just have to.”
That was a big ask, but right then, I didn’t mind. I wanted to give it to him. “I’ll do my very best. Disappearing tends to be something that happens to me, not something I plan. Although, I suppose I participated in it last time. Dev offered it.”
He nodded, an amused look on his face. “Blaze made him his second-in-command.”
Now that caught my attention and ripped me out of my carefree haze. Reality rushed back in. “Really? Why did he do that?”
“He didn’t share his reasons with me, but my guess would be it forces cohesiveness. We’re a pretty good team. We need direction from Blaze, but we actually work really well without having to say anything. It’s hard to fit someone in with us. Except for you. That was easy. But now that we have to take orders from Devil, it tells the rest of us that Blaze has confidence in him and that we’d all just better get on board.”
I sat up, and he adjusted to hold me next to him. “And how is that going for you? And the others?”
“I guess we’ll see how it goes. I worked with Devil once. He never gave me a terrible time. I did my job, and he was satisfied with it. He’s a scary motherfucker. Oh, sorry. Language.”
Waving my hand, I smiled at him. “I don’t care about the cursing.”
Something dinged, and Anders grabbed his tablet. “They’re about to open the door. Come on, we should be there. They might need me, and we’ll all feel better having you with us. Grab Wade’s tablet. He needs it. That’s who sent the message. The others just started talking, and I could hear them.”
Okay. I guessed we were back to it now. Whatever it was, and whatever my role was going to be. If anything. I’d love to know in what ways I could actually do anything.
We dressed fast, and I managed not to forget Wade’s tablet on my way out the door. Anders didn’t slow down to wait for me, which just showed how focused he was on getting there. Like he’d thought about it, he swung around. “Sorry.” He put out his hand. “I forget sometimes.”
“It’s fine.” I let him lead me because truthfully, I had no idea where I was going. I loved this ship, but I didn’t know it that well yet.
That was something I could rectify. I didn’t have to be totally out of it if I could at least know my way around Artemis. That would be a great first step to not feel quite so much like a lost child.
We arrived just in time for a loud screeching sound to fill the room. I covered my ears, dropping Anders’ hand when I did. The noise didn’t last long. A big hole appeared where a door had been. It was hot as hell in the room, not that I’d noticed it right away because of the noise, but the heat hit me hard as soon as the loud intrusive screeching stopped.
“And that,” Corbin said with a smile, “as they say, is that.” He set the machine that had been cutting a hole in Artemis aside.
Kellan scratched his head. “Who says that?”
“People.” Corbin grinned. “People say that.”
“Which people?”
“Okay,” Devil interrupted. “We can figure out who said what later. It’s just an expression, Kellan. You don’t have to use it if you don’t like it. But we need to go out there, and we need to do it systematically to keep Sienna safe. Evander is probably on this planet somewhere, too.” He turned toward Blaze. “Orders?”
Blaze rocked forward on his feet. “Omega Zeta Five. Now.”
They moved so fast that it was like a whirlwind of activity I couldn’t quite follow. Even Wade and Trenton seemed to know what he meant by that. But of course they did. War did that to people, and they’d all battled together.
Kellan jumped through the door. Hold on. How high up was that door? We were on the ground, but this had to be at least…six feet off the ground. I rushed toward him and looked down as a strong hand grabbed my arm.
Dev shook his head as though he thought I might leap after Kellan.
I turned to him. “I wanted to see, not jump.”
And I’d been right. It was really, really high up. I didn’t even see Kellan. Where had he gone?
Corbin touched my shoulder. “Excuse me, sweetheart.” He winked, and as I moved slightly, Corbin leapt down like Kellan had done. This time, I could watch it. He hit the ground and ran left. Where was he going?
“What’s going on? I don’t know what the things Blaze said mean.”
“It’s instructions.” Blaze walked toward me. “They all know in what direction I want them to scout. Our systems are mostly down. As you know by how hot it is in here. We kept your section cooled while you were knocked out. But now we’ll let them up, too. Once the guys have eyed the perimeter, Trenton will get started checking to see what is wrong with Artemis, and we’ll go from there.”
Well, that made sense. “Blaze, I don’t want to make things difficult, but I need something to do. I can’t just stand here. I can’t.”
He nodded. “Well, as soon as the guys clear the area, you can help Trenton. Legitimately, he’s going to need it.”
Trenton took my hand. “I really will. It’s too much for me to get done in the time we need to get it done in.”
He lifted my wrist and looked at the number before making eye contact with Wade. “It’s five. Unless it’s gone up?”
Wade nodded. “It’s five. Just up from the last time I saw it. Sorry, we shouldn’t do that. It’s rude.”
I shrugged. “Don’t worry about it.”
“No, actually, my mother would be really upset I’d just done that.” As he spoke, Anders nodded to both of us before jumping out of Artemis. How much time were they taking before each of them left? Trenton kept speaking. “I was raised with manners, even if I haven’t used them in years. I should have asked you if it was okay for me to look, and then spoke aloud to you about you. I know better.”
I smiled at him. It was sweet he cared this much. “We can just let it go. It’s not a big deal.”
“Not a big deal, maybe, if I do it once. A big deal if I make a habit out of it. I won’t. And I’m grateful for your help.”
Blaze stepped up. “I’m going to leave and go on perimeter. See if we can sniff out Evander before they sniff out us. You’ll be with Devil, Wade, and Trenton here. They’ll keep you safe.”
“One of these days, I’d like to keep all of you safe.” I rocked back on my feet. “But yes, for now, that’s fine.”
I didn’t imagine he’d stay if I’d said otherwise. Although I appreciated the courtesy, considering I knew just how awful Blaze could behave when he wanted to. He winked at me before he jumped out of the ship.
Turning to Dev, I asked a stupid question that I really wanted to know the a
nswer to. “Does it hurt even a little when you jump down there?”
Devil shrugged, smiling at me in that way that made my heart beat faster. He really was so handsome in all of his darkness and hardcore glaring. “I guess if you landed on something the wrong way. Like if you were a dipshit and you landed on something sharp, that could hurt.”
Wade groaned. “They’re all alike when it comes to the macho. They won’t tell you if it hurts. That would be admitting weakness, which they only do when they’re almost dead.”
I was surprised by Devil’s laugh. “Well, if you were potentially killed every time you said something hurt as a child, you’d stop saying it, too. Whiners have no place in the program.”
Dev lifted his head. “Trenton, it’s clear to the east. If you want to get started in that direction.”
“What can I do?” Wade voiced the question I felt I was constantly asking. What could I do? Wade was at least useful a lot of the time.
Trenton scratched his head. “Go into the control room. I’m sorry to ask it. It’s going to be hot as hell, but I need you to tell me what the readings say, and I don’t trust the tablets right now. They’re too plugged into the ship, which is malfunctioning. I need to know directly what it says.” Trenton pulled out a communicator. “It’s not advanced, but it’ll do. I trust this more than anything else right now. Oh.” Trenton pulled a laser from his pocket. “Take this. In case we get boarded.”
Wade nodded, but didn’t take the gun. “I have my own, and I’m comfortable with it. Keep yours. In case they get to you first.”
Dev put out his hand. “I’ll help you down. It’s clear north now, too. Oh and south. Just waiting on Blaze. He’s west. It’s thicker, harder to get through forest. So keep out of the west until I tell you it’s clear.”
“Will do.” Trenton nodded. “So useful to have you guys around. We never need the communicators. Not when we have you.”
Wade scooted backward. “I’m going to get some water and head to the control room. I’ll be there, and I’ll use the communicator in case Devil is otherwise occupied. And, Devil, thanks for your help.”
“I told Blaze that, ah, I’d never have imagined this, but now that I’m with all of you, it feels exactly like what I should be doing with myself. Being here, not just with Sienna, but all of you. Maybe there is room for a lot of redemption. Maybe things have a way of working out the way they always should have.”
Trenton laughed. “You spent way too much time in the presence of the Chens. You’re starting to sound profound.”
“The Z warriors do that to people. They’re always thinking about life. It’s a good thing.”
Trenton finally took his arm, and Devil helped him get off the ship. I guess we couldn’t jump it, or at least not easily. We could be hurt on more things than a sharp edge on the ground. With Trenton down, Dev turned to me. “Ready?”
I nodded. “Sure.”
I expected him to help me down like he had Trenton, but instead, he held onto me and jumped. I squealed for a second, but my feet never touched the ground until Dev set them there.
“Scare you?”
I blew a piece of hair out of my face. “Yes, I was startled. I thought you were going to help me down.”
“Got us both here at the same time. West is clear.”
If that was true, then where were the rest of the guys? “Everyone coming back?”
“No, they’ll go on and see if they can find Evander now. We’ll get started on fixing this baby up.” Dev touched the broken ship. “I don’t want to leave her here. The Chens will never forgive me. Their wife saved them on this baby. It’s something of a legend.”
I ran my hands on her side and walked toward Trenton. “All right, boss. Give me a job.”
He handed me his tablet. “I don’t trust it to communicate with it right now, but we can record on it. Like you’re writing it down.”
I nodded. “Okay. I’ve never written on one, but I’ll figure it out.” I smiled at him. “And someday, everything won’t be new and I won’t be lost every time I go to do something. I’ll have done it.”
Trenton nodded. “That would be frustrating. But if I’d had to step into your life, I’m not sure that I could have done it. I mean, what if I had to try to handle the day in and day out routine of your life with no instruction? If they took away my tech, I don’t think I could function. So give yourself a break. If things got turned around, I’d be royally fucked.”
I hadn’t thought about that. “Well, I promise to be as nice to all of you as you’ve been to me. I’ll make notes and put them on the walls.”
Trenton grinned. “A rather brilliant move by Corbin. Not that I love saying that he’s brilliant when he can hear me.”
“Which would be always.”
Trenton nodded. He was really delicious looking all the time, but even more so when he smiled, which wasn’t very often. “He’s probably not listening now. I find they are super focused when it comes to battle. And this is a different kind of battle. We’re hunting them, and they are in turn hunting us. Unless they blew up on landing, which I doubt, they’re out here somewhere trying to find us.”
I considered that for a second. “Couldn’t that be on the other side of the planet? Like nowhere near here. Not capable of even getting here by foot.”
He walked over and put his arm around me. “Sure. But I never get that lucky. I should warn you. If you stick with me, you’re going to discover that whatever can happen to me, does. Okay. So first things first, we have a big giant hole. Write that down.”
“You want me to write big giant hole?”
He laughed. “Yes. Totally specific, engineering words. Big. Giant. Hole.”
I wrote down just that. As I ran my finger over the tablet it appeared on the screen. Dev walked over and nodded. “It really is a big giant hole.”
We all stared at it for a second. I had to ask. “Can we fix it?”
“We can. It’s going to mean rebuilding the entire side of the ship, but yes, I can fix it. It would be better if I had a team of people and say, Thomas Sandler to direct the fixing but yes, I can do it.”
That name sounded familiar. “Paloma, right? Her husbands were at the disastrous meeting. Blonds?”
He nodded. “They’re actually really good guys. Intense. But good. All of the guys in there are. In their own ways. It wasn’t a good meeting, and we discounted you. Not okay. We’ll do better.”
“I don’t need you guys to keep apologizing.” I walked around looking at the hole. “We have the equipment to fill that hole?”
Trenton smirked. “Hope so.”
He put his head in the hole. From that point on, I was making up spelling. The words that he said to me weren’t ones that I’d ever heard before. Sometimes he’d call out what tools he was going to need. Like a water wrench. I knew what that was. We had one of those at home.
Dev leaned against a tree and watched us. If Trenton wanted him to help, he didn’t indicate it. I figured out pretty quickly that Dev’s job seemed to be to watch us. In case something happened.
The planet was hot. There were a ton of thick trees around us, and as the hours passed, it only got hotter. I fanned myself with the tablet. If either of the guys noticed how uncomfortable the temperature was, they didn’t mention it, and I wasn’t going to be that person, whining when there was nothing to do about it. Particularly because I was pretty sure they’d bend over backward to try to make me feel better, and their attention was better served elsewhere.
Trenton jumped down a ladder from the wing and picked up his communicator. “Wade? You still with us?”
There was a pause before he answered. “If I wasn’t, then it’s been a long time since anyone checked. I could be dead.”
“Nah.” Dev shook his head. “Tell him I’d have heard his heart stop beating.”
Trenton repeated that, which made Wade laugh. Finally, Trenton spoke again. “Okay, I’m going to try the systems. As it is, we have to fill a really
big hole.”
“Scientific term.” I leaned against a tree, and Dev jolted.
“Quiet.” He rounded on us. “They’ve spotted Evander. They’re not far. Close enough that if they get any closer to us, they’ll be able to hear our heartbeats. Kellan’s closest to them. He’s moving fast to disguise his sounds.”
My body went cold. “What do we do?”
Dev took my hand as Trenton pulled out his weapon. “Tell Wade to secure himself and hide in the ship. Trenton take Sienna. And run. That way.” He pointed straight ahead of him. “Get as far as you two can get before nightfall. We’ll find you.”
As Trenton relayed the message, I caught my breath. “What will you do?”
“We’re going to battle, sweetness. Try not to worry. I almost always win.”
Except when he didn’t. There had been one time he’d absolutely not won. I wasn’t going to bring that up now. “Okay. Be careful.”
“One of us will find you as soon as we can.”
Trenton pulled me along with him. “Careful, brother.”
Dev widened his eyes. It was the last thing I saw as Trenton pulled me away. He hadn’t expected the brother comment. But then, I guess maybe they were all brothers in war. This time, Dev was on the same side as Trenton. I held Trenton’s hand and tried to keep up with him as we ran. I was terribly dressed for this and had almost no experience running. Walking was about as fast as I’d ever done anything before I’d woken up from cryogenic sleep.
“I can take care of you.” Trenton didn’t bother to lower his voice. My guess was that we were either far enough to not be heard, or we weren’t. “Even though I’m not a Super Soldier.”
It hadn’t occurred to me that he couldn’t. Panting, I nodded. I wasn’t going to be the reason we’d get caught. I could do whatever I had to do. I’d always been able to. We ran hard for I didn’t know how long. Finally, he stopped.
“You have to tell me if you need to stop.”
I nodded. Talking wasn’t something I could do right then. I was too out of breath, but I think I managed to nod.
“We don’t have any water.” He put his hands on his knees. “And I have no idea of the terrain. To say this was not prepped correctly is an understatement. But I will keep you safe.” He looked up at the sun. “I know how long a day is here.” Trenton took the tablet from me. I didn’t realize I’d still been carrying it. “We have another hour of daylight.”
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