It’s home. It’s where I belong.
It’s funny how you can be so willing to stake all your resources on this image you have of your life. As recently as a few months ago, I never would’ve said I could see myself as anything other than Donner’s plaything and resident neurapath. The thing I feared most was now defeated and I finally, for the first time, have my freedom. I’m unencumbered from all else, and my only job right now is to make sure I’m making the most of this good fortune.
I’m up to that task, let me just say.
Adjusting to life as a bounty hunter’s assistant isn’t half bad. It helps that it gives me a renewed purpose in life. It also reduces the guilt that has plagued me for so long. Even though I wasn’t in control of the crimes I did to other people, I still feel the sting of guilt for the sorrow and damage I did to their poor lives. Donner may have been at the helm, but it was my presence and my skill that made it possible for him to pull anything off at all.
So, yes, I quite welcome the opportunity to pay it back.
I run my finger over the long scar on my abdomen. Not too long ago, a device that made all my nightmares real was nestled in there. Now, not only are the stitches gone, but I’m healed. I’m freaking healed. Scar tissue has probably never made someone as happy as it does me right this very second.
It means my body is also getting used to the new reality. I’m on board with that.
When you’ve lived for so long under a dark cloud, you start to think that the overcast skies ahead of you are the norm. You doubt your own ability to perceive reality. You doubt everything, pretty much, and constantly. There’s never a moment of mental clarity or peace. Add hardcore drugs to the mix and you have a recipe for disaster.
Even when I escaped, I never thought I would actually succeed.
And yet I have. I have kicked ass and taken names. I have survived. I am finally able to release all those negatives, rid my mind and my psyche of them. I don’t even fidget anymore.
“Did you sleep okay? You curled up during the night and I thought you might be cold.”
At that, I have to grin. As if I can’t just adjust the temperature control. Even sleeping, my neuratelepathy adjusts what it can in my environment to afford me greater comfort. That used to be a real source of anxiety for me. What if Donner ever found out about the true limits of my ability? It would’ve ended in calamity.
“I slept like a baby.” I plant a kiss on his lips, quick as a blur, and settle back in my own seat. Cole outfitted the cabin to accommodate the both of us. I tried to tell him that he didn’t have to uproot his entire setup so soon, but he’s the poster boy for personal revolution.
I gotta say, there’s nothing there to complain about. With the way he’s welcomed me, arms wide open, I can’t help but feel completely at ease in his presence. What’s more, I’m happy that it turned out like this. I shake my head slightly and grin.
“I’m glad.” Cole smirks. “But don’t plan on having many peaceful nights until we reach Verna.”
An ache of desire pulsates between my legs. Oh, the things I want him to do to me...
“Hey, there! Water!” one of the verbal shifters shouts. He rattles his cage in rage.
I whistle. “So much for banter.”
“Best get used to it,” Cole says with a smile. He pounds against the rig. “Shut up. You’ll get fed eventually.”
If it were up to me, that particular bounty would get lost en route to Verna or wherever it is we’re dropping him off. I scan the onboard itinerary and then decide against it. Who cares? We’ll get where we need to eventually. For now, even these minor interruptions are worth it. We’re on a voyage far away from the place that represented so much danger to both of us.
We’re about to start a new life.
Together.
To think that I used to bristle at the idea of sharing my life with someone...
To think I used sex as an escape valve, a tool through which one releases tension...
To think I often dismissed the notion of true, all-encompassing love as fictional at best and mass-marketed delusion at worst...
Anyone who came in contact with me over the past few years would be rocked to their core if they could see me now. Luckily for me, that’s not in the cards. What happens now is we disappear off into the intergalactic horizon. We live a quiet and uneventful life as the nebulously legal treasure hunters. We flit off at a moment’s notice. In the days of terrestrial yore, they loved talking about riding off into the sunset.
I watch the sun in front of us and struggle to think of any metaphor that would be more fitting right now.
This is what the future holds for me and for Cole.
“So, this is what your travels entail, huh?” I kick my feet up on the control panel. “Seems peaceful.”
“It can be very solitary. I used to be very isolated.” Cole’s face darkens for a moment before he exhales heavily. “I’m glad that it’s about to change for the better.”
Our hands clasp together.
“It’s already changed.” I smile again, and it’s probably the most I’ve ever smiled in my life. I can’t wait to keep breaking these small personal records of mine. “It’s already changed so, so much. You and I—”
“Together.” His mech-hand squeezes me, and my warmth radiates on the metal surface. “They say Verna is lovely this time of year.”
I’m sure it is.
31 Cole
The screams of my ancestors quieted the moment Lily agreed to make this her home. It was like the silencing of a never-ending agony. All at once, the voices faded from me.
I flick through my tablet, reading the pages of the Galactic Gazette. An ad for retirees pops into the frame. I immediately recognize the colorful sphere. It’s Verna.
My finger taps on the picture, and my screen fills with a blanket of information. It gives a list of cities, activities, common professions, hotels, living quarters, and everything else you might want to know about the planet. There’s even a temperature gauge at the bottom and a current chart of the atmospheric composition. It lists several species that won’t be able to survive on the surface. I grin to myself when one of them catches my eye.
I know some of my people have earned enough on the residential ships to resettle in Verna. I haven’t told Lily yet, but I’ve been thinking a lot lately about hanging this bounty hunter thing up. I know she’s excited to take up this way of life, but really, it’s not an activity that leaves enough room for someone to put down roots. I also know I can’t just wake up tomorrow and quit, but I’ve been eyeing a few possible successors. I’ll need to train them first and recommend them to the patrols. But it’s an option I’m slowly taking steps toward.
Before Lily, I used to rush into things. Life was just a series of actions that produced results. Each action, I used to believe, was intended to lead me to what I imagined would be a soul-satisfying moment—taking Donner’s life. But it’s obvious now that would have never satisfied me. In fact, it probably would have taken even more from me. I would have been left without a goal, a life purpose. It’s a rather grim future.
Thankfully, that’s not where I was being directed. Fate had another person in mind for me to crash into. Lily was the gift the ancestors meant for me to cross paths with. In their wisdom, they probably knew the time and day our souls would intersect. The universe is very well-organized like that. In my heart, I know I would have remained broken without her.
That’s why I want to give her everything her heart desires. She’s saved me in so many ways.
Whenever it is that we finally make it to Verna, I plan on mating her officially. We’ll need to hold a ceremony to honor my ancestors first, but that’s beside the point. I want to make our relationship real in the eyes of my people. I want them to know she’s the one. Maybe once it’s official and we’re settled, we’ll get a boat and gather those pearls she likes so much.
“Shut it!” Lily yells at the growling, hulks of fur in the holding bay. Her sh
out pulls me from my thoughts.
I chuckle. “That one’s got a spirit no one can snuff out,” I say to myself as I continue to scroll through my tablet. “And the fool who tries won’t ever see the light of day.” They’d wind up with the same fate as Donner—cancelled out for good thanks to her very rare gift.
Miranda Martin
USA Today Bestselling Author
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MIRANDA’S CATALOG
THE RED PLANET DRAGONS OF TAJSS
Dragon’s Baby (Calista's story)
Dragon’s Mate (Jolie's story)
Dragon’s Love (Amara's story)
Dragon’s Hope (Lana's story)
Dragon’s Kiss (Olivia's story)
It’s Getting Hot (A Red Planet Short Story)
Dragon’s Capture (Rosalind's story)
Dragon’s Taming (Mei's story)
Dragon’s Desire (Sarah's story)
Dragon’s Claim (Penelope's story)
& MORE TO COME!
Red Planet Standalones
Night of the Dragons (Reverse Harem)
Ribbed for Her Pleasure (Celestial Mates tie-in)
DRAGONS & PHOENIXES - COMPLETE! PARANORMAL ROMANCE SERIES
Dragon Lord
Phoenix King
Shifter Queen
THE PHOENIX WARS
From the Ashes
Wings of Blood
Court of Flame
CELESTIAL MATES - SCIFI ALIEN ROMANCE
A Baby for the Alien Prince
Forbidden Alien Prince
Rescued by the Alien Prince
SCI-FI FAIRY TALE RE-TELLINGS
Beast (Beauty & The Beast)
Wolf (Little Red Riding Hood)
Prince (Cinderella)
FALLEN REVELATIONS - POST APOC PARANORMAL REVERSE HAREM
Divine Gift
Divine Magic
Book 3-5 Coming soon!
About the Author
USA Today Bestselling Author of fantasy and scifi romance, Miranda Martin's books feature larger than life heroes with out-of-this-world anatomy and smart heroines destined to save the world. As a little girl she would sneak off with her nose in a book, dreaming of magical realms. Today she brings those fantasies to life and adores every fan who chooses to live in them for a while.
She was born and raised in southern Virginia, but as a veteran she's traveled to places like Korea, Hawaii and good 'ole Texas. Now she's settled in Kansas, the heart of America, with her husband and daughters. Her favorite animals are dragons, unicorns and cats. If she's not writing, you can still find her tucked away somewhere with a warm blanket and her nose in a book.
Get in touch!
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The Cyborg Bounty Hunter: In the Stars Romance Page 15