Beyond Surrender (Beyond #9)
Page 28
Kora stumbled from the truck. Her lips formed the silent shape of his name, and then she was running, hard and fast. She was still moving when she reached him, and he caught her out of instinct as she slammed into him.
He didn't care for physical contact, but holding her wasn't unpleasant. She was soft, made of curves and smooth skin, and tall enough that he could smell her hair. When she'd worked as a doctor on the Base, her scent had been subdued. Mild traces of something floral, nothing he could ever identify. Now she smelled like coconut, and beneath that, spice or incense.
She smelled like she belonged here.
And she was crying. The salty scent of her tears mixed with the sound of her ragged, exhaled sob as she slid her arms around his neck. “I thought you were dead.”
It hadn't occurred to him that she'd think any such thing. It hadn't occurred to him she'd care. Most people Ashwin had known in his life would feel nothing if he vanished, except perhaps vague relief.
But he should have known. Kora Bellamy wasn't most people.
He didn't know how to soothe her. He wasn't trained for it. Her grip on him tightened, and he moved his hand between her shoulder blades in an awkward circle. “I'm sorry.”
“What happened? Where have you been?”
“Kora.” Deacon Price, the driver of the truck and Gideon's second-in-command, stood nearby, a black bag in one hand. “You need to look at Hunter's face.”
“Oh, God. I'm sorry.” She pulled back, but it took another few heartbeats before she untangled her fingers from the back of Ashwin's shirt. “Sorry, I'm just... Don't go anywhere.”
“I'll be here,” he promised, letting his fingers linger on her back until she turned away. Then he let his hand fall, and it didn't hurt to let her go. His bones didn't ache with the need to follow her. When he closed his eyes briefly, he saw only darkness.
The Base had spent close to twenty-one weeks tearing her out of him, one painful memory at a time. They'd practically rebuilt him on a cellular level. Whatever compulsion had gripped him, whatever obsession had driven him—he was no longer fixated on Kora. He had to believe it. He had a mission to execute, and he couldn't allow her presence to compromise it.
The first stage had gone well. The deserters had taken his bait, including the false schematics he planted, hinting that the vault in the basement was beyond their ability to crack. They'd done exactly what Ashwin had anticipated—waited for the Riders to remove the loot for them.
He'd been meticulous. Even if some of the deserters had survived this raid, there was no way for the Riders to trace their intel back to him. And that was the only variable he'd misjudged—the sheer competence of Gideon's men. The three of them had almost taken down the entire squadron before he had a chance to intervene and help.
He wouldn't repeat the mistake of underestimating them.
With a little luck, he'd be in Gideon Rios' house by sunset, one step closer to infiltrating the Riders. Gideon might mouth pieties about compassion and peace, but he was a ruthless enough leader not to squander the chance to have a genetically engineered soldier at his disposal.
Ashwin had planned for everything...except Kora. But he was Makhai. He'd find a way to make it work.
He always did.
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About the Author
Kit Rocha is the pseudonym for co-writing team Donna Herren and Bree Bridges. After penning dozens of paranormal novels, novellas and stories as Moira Rogers, they branched out into gritty, sexy dystopian romance. The Beyond series has appeared on the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists, and was honored with a 2013 RT Reviewer's Choice award. Get updates about their new books by subscribing to their announcement list, or visit their website at kitrocha.com
Acknowledgements
How do you make a million-word series? One word at a time. In the middle of 2012, in a fit of frustration, we threw up our hands and said, "Screw this, we're writing exactly what we want for a couple weeks." It was raw. It was filthy. It was dark and hopeful and it was going to change our lives, even though we didn't know it then.
Nine novels, three novellas, two short stories, an outtake and one giant spin-off later...here we are. Saying our thanks for the final time from the VIP Lounge in Sector Four. Thank you to the friends, family and raptors who were there for the whole wild journey. Special shout out to Alyssa Cole, who not only beta read this book but responds to panicked 5 AM texts with grace and humor. Thank you to Sasha Knight for her editorial badassery and general cheerleading. Thank you to Sharon Muha and Lillie Applegarth, who have frequently backflipped through tiny deadline hoops to help us get these books out on time, continuity-checked and proofread. Thank you to Angie Ramey, who claims she's our assistant but really is the Office Manager who makes sure the job gets done. Thank you to Jay and Tracy, who moderate the Facebook version of the VIP Lounge and have built it into a welcoming home for women to find their online family.
Most especially, thank you to the readers. Those of you who discovered the O'Kanes, loved them, cried with them and cheered for them. They live bigger and brighter because you are here to love their stories. If we told you how much that means to us, Nessa would definitely threaten to puke all over us.
We may be moving on to Sector One, but I hope we'll always find time to sneak back to Sector Four and let you check in with the O'Kanes. Because as the saying goes...
Copyright Information
Beyond Surrender
Copyright © 2016 by Kit Rocha
This novella is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author except in the case of brief quotation embodied in critical articles and reviews.