by Lolita Lopez
Naya nodded. “He’s a research scientist from the colonies. He’s got a permit to fly his surface-to-sky cruiser in and out of Calyx airspace four times a week. His end of things is squared away.”
“And yours? What the hell are you going to do with your shop?”
“What I should have done years ago when Nattie left me here,” Naya replied, the memory of her older brother’s betrayal still so painful. “I’m selling out—lock, stock and barrel.”
He chuckled. “I see what you did there.”
She rolled her eyes. “I haven’t run weapons in a long time, Danny. Once the Splinter terrorists came here and their civil war with the Harcos,” she pointed skyward again, “started to spill into our world, I gave up that rather lucrative side business running cargo for the Sixers. Once those two groups got into bed together, it wasn’t worth the risk or the hassle. I need to get tangled up with their insurgency problems like I need a hole in the head.”
“Agreed.” Dankirk shuffled his feet. “So—you headed home?”
Naya’s chest tightened. “I’m sorry, Danny. I just… We can’t.”
“Not even once? For old times’ sake?”
“We did once,” she reminded him. There was such hope in his voice. She didn’t have the heart to add that it had gotten weird and awkward so fast. Afraid this might be their last meeting ever, she stepped close and wound her arms around his waist. Rising on tiptoes, she pressed their lips together in a gentle, lingering kiss. “Good night, Danny.”
“Night, Naya.” He caressed her face and dropped a kiss on her forehead. “Be safe.”
“I’ll try.” She couldn’t promise anything else.
“I’ll catch up with you in the colonies.” He rubbed her earlobe between his forefinger and thumb. “I can’t decide if you’re incredibly brave or just really stupid.”
Laughing softly, she pecked his cheek and started to walk away. “Probably a bit of both.”
Out in the cool night, Naya kept to the shadows again. Her mind raced as she cut across Connor’s Run. She tried not to focus on how badly things could go wrong. The alderman might be unsuccessful in his quest to switch numbers. Or, even worse, he might sell her out to the authorities as a political dissident to curry favor with someone higher up the food chain.
Even if she made it into the Grab, either she or Jennie could be snatched up by one of the Harcos warriors. If Jennie were caught, Naya would have to let herself be taken so they could stay together and escape at some point. Getting off one of those warships wouldn’t be easy but Naya had gotten out of trickier scrapes.
The very thought of being caught made her shiver with fear. There were few things that truly scared Naya. Being dragged to one of those Harcos sky ships was one of them. She’d heard the stories of how they treated their wives. She figured there were some embellishments tacked on to those stories—anything she heard via gossip typically had something salacious added to it—but they all began with a seed of truth. It was the possibility of truth that scared her.
What went on in Harper’s Well and Willow’s Tears was bad enough, but up there? Oh, hell no. They put collars and leashes on their women and forced them to do all sorts of perverted things. They were abusive and cruel to their wives.
And huge. She’d never seen such big men. The massive giants of the Harcos race stood seven feet tall on average and weighed hundreds of pounds. They were solidly built men, all lean muscle and brutal strength. Most had pale hair and eyes, but she’d seen the occasional dark-haired man among them.
The face of one of the men, the only one she’d ever spoken to, flashed in her mind. His pale-green eyes and white-blond hair left her shivering—but not with fear. With need. With desire.
She still didn’t understand it. Their chance meeting nearly three months earlier had shaken her. Apparently he’d been on a mission to find flowers. For a friend? For a woman he loved? She didn’t know. Somehow he’d ended up at Jennie’s flower stall in the open market. By chance, Naya had stopped by and the giant Harcos warrior hadn’t seen her approaching. He’d turned so quickly he’d knocked her off balance and into the street, where she’d almost been crushed by a rolling cart.
To say they’d exchanged some furious words was an understatement. The look on his face when she’d told him to fuck off had been priceless. No doubt he’d never had any woman speak to him in such a way. For the briefest of moments, she’d been sure he was going to snatch her right up, toss her across his lap and spank her backside. Instead he’d tossed a handful of coins at Jennie, grabbed his bouquet and stormed off in a huff. Naya had laughed so hard at the sight of the massive warrior flouncing off and clutching his bouquet of fragile flowers to his chest.
He’d started plaguing her dreams that night. Of all the men who crossed her path day after day, why did it have to be him? He was everything she loathed and nothing she wanted. Yet so many nights she’d bolted upright in bed, ripped from the wildest dreams and hovering on the verge of climax. It stunned her that a few moments with an intimidating stranger could have such an astounding effect on her. In real life, she rarely came close to having an orgasm.
But she couldn’t think about that now. She had to focus. She couldn’t risk overlooking even the simplest step in the plan.
Finally reaching her shop, Naya took the alley stairs up to the second-floor apartment she shared with Jennie. She let herself inside the small place and found Jennie sitting on their lumpy couch. Hugging her knees, she glanced up, her eyes red from crying. “Well?”
Naya locked the door and smiled. “It’s done, Jennie. We’re getting out of here.”
Chapter Two
Menace stepped off the elevator into the med bay of the Valiant. He checked his watch again to make sure he still had time. The last week he’d been swamped with weapons shipments and inventory. Twice he had rescheduled his medical clearance for today’s Grab. Even now, he was cutting it close. Only his rank and his reputation as a man who shouldn’t be crossed were going to save him from being struck off the list.
He caught sight of Vicious, his close friend and the Valiant’s highest-ranking land corps officer, leaving a private exam room with his wife Hallie at his side. Vicious held her hand and tenderly swept his fingertips down her cheek. Not wanting to intrude on a private moment, Menace dropped his gaze. He had a feeling their visit to the med bay had to do with her inability to conceive but Menace didn’t dare ask. He and Vicious had been friends since childhood but there were some things that even friends didn’t discuss. This was one of them.
“Menace,” Vicious called to him as he walked Hallie to the elevator. He smiled knowingly. “Sneaking in at the last moment for your med check?”
“Of course.” Menace nodded in Hallie’s direction. “Ma’am.”
She grinned up at him, her smile warm and friendly. “I hear you’re running today. Good luck, Menace.”
Vicious chuckled. “If the women running today are anything like Hallie, you’re going to need it.”
She smacked her husband’s chest. “Be nice.”
He feigned injury and rubbed the spot his wife had whacked. “Yes, Kitten.”
Menace still couldn’t believe how gentle and sweet Vicious was with her. Vicious was one of the most feared of their kind, a true warrior who had proven himself in some of the worst battles of the war and their constant skirmishes with alien life forms. Somehow Hallie had wrapped him around her little finger. As far as Menace could tell, Vicious had never been happier.
Hallie stepped into the waiting elevator. “I’ll see you at dinner.”
Vicious nodded. “I’ll call if I’m running late.”
Menace wondered at the domestic scene before him. As little as six months ago, he would have been repulsed by such a sight. Now he yearned for these little moments of sweetness Vicious shared with his wife. All the long, hard years of unending war had taken their toll. He was tired of the loneliness and the bachelor quarters. He wanted a real home. He wanted someone to prot
ect and love. He wanted a woman to support and love him back.
Alone now, Vicious turned his full attention to him. “You’re going to Connor’s Run?”
Menace nodded. “It’s a midsized Grab today. Less than twenty girls, apparently.”
“Good odds,” Vicious commented. “You want my advice?”
Menace laughed. “Not really, but you’re going to give it anyway.”
“That’s what superior officers do, Menace. But seriously, pick a woman and stick with her. Don’t change your tactic halfway through the Grab. Listen to your gut. You won’t be led astray.”
“Did your gut tell you to Grab Hallie?”
Vicious chuckled. “I had this crazy idea that I wanted some tall, blonde, buxom beauty. My head told me that this imaginary woman was the perfect match for me. You know, someone with similar genes to complement my own.” He shook his head. “But the moment I spied Hallie with that dark hair and those dark eyes?” Vicious touched his chest. “I felt it here. I knew she was the one.”
Menace couldn’t help himself. He let the image of that young woman from the flower stall in Connor’s Run invade his thoughts. With her soft brown skin and black hair, she was so unlike the typical Harcos woman. One look at her and his heart had stuttered in his chest.
But that mouth of hers! He’d been wrong to knock her over but she’d bitten his head off before he could apologize for his accidental collision. The string of expletives that had left those pouty lips had blitzed his instant attraction, but her friend, the sweet brunette with dark eyes who had sold him the flowers? Now that was a woman he wouldn’t mind catching. Modest, quiet, friendly, sweet. Maybe he’d look for someone just like that.
“Are you taking the full honeymoon period?”
Pulled from his thoughts by his commander’s question, Menace shook his head. “Raze and the SRU boys have some weapons recertification needs. I’ll be doing those during my days off just to get them out of the way. Terror and his crew will probably need rearming at some point. You know how they are about running through weapons and ammo.”
Vicious grunted at the mention of his best friend’s name. Terror excelled in his work with the Shadow Force the silent, secret arm of the military that carried out all the covert operations required to keep their people safe, but he was such a difficult man. The war hadn’t been kind to him and he seemed to grow colder and more withdrawn with each passing year.
“Try not to work too hard during your bonding period,” Vicious instructed. “Hallie and I weren’t able to have any kind of honeymoon and it made things difficult in the beginning. You should take the time to get to know your new wife. You only get one chance to do things right.”
“Understood.”
Vicious clapped him on the back. “Let me know how it goes.”
“Will do.” Menace headed toward the reception desk and checked in for his physical. He was in and out in twenty minutes and on his way to the departures deck for the trip to the surface. He eyed the small crowd of waiting men and judged his competition. Only three were fellow officers and all of them lower ranking. As the highest-ranking officer taking part, the younger, lower-ranking soldiers would defer to him. He would have the pick of the litter, so to speak.
An hour later, a quiver of excitement pierced his belly. Menace leaned against the railing of the hastily erected stage and gazed down into the group of women who had been picked by the lottery to participate in the Grab. He scanned the offerings and tried to find a woman who piqued his interest.
A few of the women were much too young to tempt him. He wanted someone equal to the task of being his partner and someone with enough life experience to relate to him. He instantly skipped over their faces in search of just the right woman. He only had once chance to find his life mate. He had to choose just right or risk years of unhappiness.
A familiar face caught his eye. His gut clenched. It couldn’t be—but it was.
Menace frowned at the sight of the young woman who had cussed him out in the market that day. From the stunned look on her face, she remembered him too. Her dark eyes narrowed to a piercing glare that silently warned him to back off and leave her be. She shouldn’t have wasted the energy. He planned to avoid her at all costs. One taste of that waspish tongue was quite enough for him.
His searching gaze skipped to her right. He spotted her friend, the one from the flower stall who had enthralled him with her sweet smile and kind voice. She was exactly the kind of woman he had in mind. There was no doubt now. He was chasing that one.
Menace’s brow furrowed as the bratty one leaned over and whispered in her friend’s ear. They glanced furtively his way. From the way they talked behind their hands, it was clear they were strategizing. Vicious had told him all about Hallie’s battle plan for the day she’d run. She’d almost beaten him. What if the mouthy one helped the woman he wanted evade him today?
Bold as brass, the young woman with the dark, impish eyes flashed him a big smirk and gestured rudely in his direction. The crude one-fingered salute was a silent version of the nasty remark she’d tossed his way that day in the market.
He couldn’t believe her audacity. She laughed and glanced away from him. Her behavior grated on his nerves. He planned to tell the man who Grabbed her to spank her—and often. Clearly she needed a little discipline in her life.
The mayor of Connor’s Run climbed onto the stage. One of the Harcos liaisons, who monitored the Grabs and ensured complete cooperation by the people of Calyx, joined the mayor. While the mayor read from a piece of paper, the Harcos bureaucrat held his touchscreen tablet at the ready. The liaison would make sure all the rules of the Grab were followed to the letter. No violence against the women. No underhanded or devious means to catch them. No bribing or trading money or gifts to entice them.
Menace noticed the two women inching their way toward the starting line. They obviously planned to be the first out of the pen. The moment the mayor whacked the bell, the pair sprinted from the crowd and quickly left the other women in their dust.
Impressed, Menace stretched his neck and glanced at his watch. The women had three full minutes of running before the men could enter the race. His hand drifted to his shirt pocket. He felt the raised outline of the white bride’s collar tucked safely there. It was the generic collar given to every man boarding a shuttle bound for one of the Grabs.
“Hey, Gunner!”
Without tearing his gaze away from his intended target, Menace answered to the nickname usually given to his rank and specialty. “Yes?”
“You have your woman picked out, sir?”
Menace nodded and pointed toward the two women he’d been watching. Little Miss Mouthy and her gorgeous sidekick were sprinting into the tree line now. “The one in the red shirt is mine.”
“And the sexy one in gray?”
“You can have her.” And good riddance.
* * * * *
“We aren’t going to make it.”
Naya glanced at Jennie. There was no time for a reassuring smile as they sprinted through the woods. “We stick to the plan, Jennie.”
“It’s a long way, Naya.” Jennie wasn’t breathing hard yet. Naya took that as a good sign.
“We have adrenaline working for us today.” She cast another glance over her shoulder. The coast was still clear but soon they would have to evade the grabby hands of those giant, tattooed men in their frightening black uniforms and boots.
A shiver coursed down her spine. She couldn’t believe he was here. He had recognized her the same moment she’d spotted him. The way he had looked at Jennie unsettled her. He wanted Jennie. That much was clear. No doubt he would be running their way soon.
She tried to ignore the frisson of unwanted jealousy that stabbed her belly. The fact that he had skipped over her so easily hurt her pride, but she would never admit that aloud. It wasn’t easy to swallow that the man who had starred in her dirtiest fantasies found her utterly unattractive.
But this was so not th
e time to even think about that.
“Just keep running, Jennie. Josef is waiting for you. That’s all that matters.” She shot Jennie a quick grin. “We’re going to make it.”
A loud war cry of a whoop shattered the stillness of the woods. Naya’s heart leapt into her throat. The men were loose and they were gaining ground.
“Is this where we split up?” Jennie asked, her voice unnaturally high and anxious.
“Yes. Remember the plan, Jennie. We’ve run this route a dozen times. We’re going to make it.”
Jennie nodded and took off one way while Naya ran the other. Even though she’d just given Jennie that pep talk, her stomach pitched violently. This was nothing like the dry runs. There were men hell-bent on capturing them hot on their tails. One mistake and their plan was toast. They were toast.
The crackle of ground covering snapping under heavy boots echoed in the forest. Naya gulped and pushed herself to run even faster. She took a chance glancing back and spotted one of the Harcos men a hundred yards or so behind. He wasn’t as big as the man from the market but he ran fast. Too fast, she realized and turned her attention forward.
Her gaze jumped around the forest. She hooked a quick right and ran straight for a tricky spot in the terrain that only the locals knew well. A dry creek bed, some fallen logs and shifting, loose rocks were a disaster for the uninitiated. The idea of causing an injury to the monstrous man wasn’t one she relished but she wasn’t about to be Grabbed by him. Hopefully he’d be smart enough to sense the danger and stay back.
Sure-footed as a rabbit, Naya hopped from log to rock and crossed the dangerous creek bed with the speed and efficiency of practice. The monstrous hulk in his black uniform didn’t let the new obstacle slow him down. Stupidly he leapt onto a log that quickly began to roll. He fell forward and cracked his knee on a rock. His roar of pain filled the air. Naya winced at the discomfort he must have been feeling but didn’t stop to render aid. She had to keep moving.