by Paige Tyler
The moment he realized they’d been betrayed, Rade had ordered his little transport to close the distance with the Federation ships. While their own ship didn’t have much in the way of weapons or armor, he knew that if they stayed close to the Feds, not only would the Federation have a hard time targeting them, but that the Ashantians wouldn’t fire on them, either. The bastards were too chicken to risk pissing off the Federation by firing in their direction. Of course, if the Feds managed to hit them with one direct impact from their high-powered lasers, it would vaporize the small shuttle immediately.
Dammit, he wished he had taken Kellen’s advice and told Laken he was in love with her. On second thought, it was better he hadn’t because if he had given voice to his feelings, he would never have had the strength to let her go. It was more important that she was safe, even if it meant she would be in the arms of another man. He swallowed hard at the thought.
“Captain!”
With a curse, Rade forced himself from his musings and turned his attention to the crewman. Shit, he thought as he took in the kid’s lanky body and shaggy hair. What was he, fourteen?
“What is it?” Rade asked.
“All of our ships are concentrating their fire on the Command Cruiser,” the kid said. “Should we do the same?”
Frowning, Rade leaned closer to look out the vis-screen. He’d be damned, The kid was right. What the hell were the Marlonians up to? He wished he still had commo, but that had been blown out within the first thirty seconds.
“Captain,” the kid said. “The Feds have suddenly started targeting the Ashantian ships. Why are they doing that?”
As Rade scanned the screen in front of him, he realized that for the first time since this debacle had started, their ship wasn’t taking fire.
“Sir, do we retreat?” his second-in-command asked.
Though not much older than the other kid, this one at least looked like he was old enough to be out of school.
“Hell no,” Rade told him, an idea coming to him. “Put this heap right down the front deck of that Command Cruiser.” He glanced over to the dark-haired youth manning the weapons system. “Gunner, I want every round right through the front door of their command deck.”
His second-in-command blinked in surprise. “Sir, that approach will put us directly in line with their main gun batteries. They won’t even have to get lucky to hit us.”
Rade grinned. “Sometimes, you gotta take a chance if you want to win the fight,” he said, then, “Helmsman, what are you waiting for? Let’s go!”
“Yes, Sir!”
* * * * *
“What did you do, Laken?” Kellen called over the ship’s com.
“I kidnapped the Federation’s vis-screens and forced them to use their external sensors instead,” she told him. “When the battle started, the Ashantians began transmitting a code to the Federation, so the Federation would know who they were supposed to shoot at. Once I took control of the Federation’s operating system for their computers, it was pretty simple to trick the sensors into thinking the Ashantians were us and vice versa.”
Kellen said nothing, though Laken imagined the first officer probably wore the same expression of disbelief that Dev did.
“It wasn’t a big deal, really,” Laken said. “Anyone could have done it if they had the codes.”
Beside her, Dev let out a snort. “Yeah, right. No big deal.”
“Well, however you did it, it’s working,” Kellen said over the com. “The Ashantians are turning tail and running.”
Laken was just starting to relax a little when their ship suddenly bucked. From the passageway, she saw a bright flash of light, as if something had lit up the vis-screen on the bridge.
“Kellen, what was that?” she asked.
“One of the small Marlonian shuttles just put a laser burst right through the Command Cruiser’s Conning Tower.”
On the ship’s com, she heard Kam and Jorn let out a cheer.
Laken looked at Dev. “What’s a conning tower?”
“It’s the armored command station where all of the senior officers are located during the battle. It has all the controls for the entire ship. If the damage is severe enough, the whole cruiser will be useless.”
“She’s keeling over out of control!” Kam shouted from the bridge.
Laken grinned. Maybe this was going to work.
“That she is, but we’re far from done,” she heard Kellen say. “There are still five more Federation vessels to deal with and they still have a lot of firepower. If they get past Laken’s trickery, we’re still in trouble.”
Laken chewed on her lower lip, thinking for a moment. “I might be able to help with that, too, Kellen.”
Turning her attention back to the computer, Laken typed in several commands. A moment later, she sat back with a sigh of satisfaction. “That should do it.”
“Now what miracle did you pull off?” Dev asked, looking over her shoulder at the computer screen.
Laken grinned. “I turned off their cooling generators and locked them completely out of the system. In about thirty seconds or so, they’re going to have to shut down their engines or their drives will go into meltdown. No power, no guns.”
She was right. Within minutes, all laser fire from the Federation ships ceased as they were forced to shut down power. No longer needed in the communications room, Laken hurried back to the bridge, Dev on her heels.
Since radio silence wasn’t necessary now, Kellen had ordered Kam to open the link, and Laken listened in as the Marlonian Commander negotiated the Federation’s unconditional surrender. Of course, the fact that what was left of the Command Cruiser was slowly dropping into Marlon Prime’s atmosphere at the time helped to speed up the negotiations.
Once the Marlonian Commander had the surrender well under way, Kellen and the rest of the Rebel ships began to scour the area for survivors.
“Where’s Rade’s ship?” Laken asked nervously, her eyes desperately searching the vis-screen.
Kellen didn’t answer, but simply frowned as he tried to locate his friend. At his silence, Laken felt her stomach knot. Oh God, Rade couldn’t be dead. He just couldn’t be.
Then suddenly, Kellen pointed at something on the vis-screen. “There!”
Laken sagged with relief. Thank God, she thought, only to immediately tense again when she saw how heavily damaged Rade’s small ship was. It looked like it was going to slip into Marlon Prime’s atmosphere at any minute.
“Kam...” Kellen began.
“I’m on it,” Kam said.
Kam moved the cargo ship in quickly, maneuvering up to the smaller vessel so that he could latch on to it. Eager to see Rade, Laken hurried from the bridge and down the passageway to the hold, Kellen, Dev and Jorn on her heels.
Despite how eager she was, however, once in the cargo hold, Laken hung back when the rest of the crew gathered around the door. She smoothed her hands down the front of her dress anxiously, unable to calm her wildly beating heart. She was nervous about seeing him, she realized. While everyone else on board the ship seemed to be convinced Rade was head-over-heels in love with her, she wasn’t so sure. He had sent her away, after all. What if he didn’t want her?
Abruptly, the door to the hold opened and as Rade stepped on board, all the misgivings Laken had disappeared at the sight of his tall form. His face and clothes were smudged with soot, but she’d never seen him look so gorgeous.
Laken stayed in the background as Rade and his ragtag crew were surrounded by Kellen and the others. She watched as they joked and laughed and clapped each other on the back, wondering how to approach him.
“Did you see that amazing shot this crew pulled off back there?” Rade asked, grinning at the group of youths who had come aboard with him. “Took out that Federation Cruiser with no problem at all.”
Kellen chuckled. “I should have known that was you. No one else would have the balls to do something like that.”
Though Rade’s grin broadened, h
e shrugged off the compliment. “You guys are the real heroes in all of this.” He looked at Dev. “I don’t know how you did what you did, or how the hell you even knew what to do in the first place, but remind me to give you a raise.”
Dev laughed. “As much as I’d love to take the credit, because I could really use the raise, I can’t. It wasn’t me, Captain. It was Laken.”
From where she stood behind the men, Laken could see Rade’s brow furrow in obvious confusion. “Laken? What...?”
Grinning, Dev nodded and jerked her head in Laken’s direction. As if on cue, Pammay and the rest of the crew took a step back so that Rade had a clear view of her.
For a moment, Rade just stood there gazing at her as if he couldn’t quite believe what he was seeing. Laken wasn’t sure which one of them took a step toward the other first, but the next thing she knew, she was in his arms and he was kissing her.
Laken kissed him back, oblivious to the rest of the crew around them. God, she had missed him so much. And from the way his mouth was taking possession of hers, he had missed her, too.
Lifting his head, Rade gazed down at her, his dark eyes searching her face as he brushed her hair back. “What are you doing here, Laken? I thought...” He let the words trail off.
She smiled up at him, tears of happiness making her vision blurry. “I’ll tell you everything. But can we go to your cabin first?”
For a moment, Rade looked taken aback by the request. Then as if just realizing that they were standing in the middle of the hold with his crew all around them, he gave his head a shake. “Yeah, of course.” He glanced at his first officer. “Kellen?”
The older man grinned broadly. “Take all the time you need. I’ll hold down the fort.”
Taking Laken’s hand, Rade led her across the hold and up the steps. As they hurried down the passageway, she glanced over to see the crew eyeing them with knowing grins, and she couldn’t help but blush.
Once in his cabin, Rade pulled her into his arms for another long, drugging kiss before he lifted his head to gaze down at her.
“Not that I’m not completely thrilled to see you, sweetheart, but what are you doing back?” he asked. “More importantly, how did you even get here?”
Laken kissed him again. “Later,” she said against his mouth. “Right now, just make love to me.”
She was half afraid Rade would press the issue, but apparently he decided his curiosity could wait to be satisfied because he slid his hand into her long hair and covered her mouth with his. Laken moaned as his tongue found hers. God, he was intoxicating.
She ran her hand up the front of his shirt, her hands automatically going to the buttons there. In her haste to get his clothes off, she thought she might have ripped off one or two of them, but she couldn’t be sure. Rade didn’t seem to care, though. In fact, he was just as impatient as she was. Within moments, her dress was off and lying in a puddle at her feet. Her bra and panties quickly followed, leaving her naked beneath his hungry gaze. With a lusty groan, Rade swung her up in his arms and set her down on the bed.
Lying back on the pillows, Laken watched from beneath lowered lashes as Rade’s hands went to his breeches. He made quick work of them, tossing the leathers on the floor to join the rest of the clothes. Gloriously naked, his cock hard and thick with desire, he lowered himself on top of her, sliding into her pussy in one smooth motion. Though Laken was more than ready for him, she gasped as she felt his length fill her.
Bracing himself with an arm on either side of her head, Rade bent to capture her mouth with his. “God, I missed you, Laken,” he rasped, the words a hoarse whisper against her lips.
She wrapped her arms around him, one hand sliding into his thick, dark hair. “I missed you, too. “Don’t ever send me away again. Please.”
His breath was hot against her cheek as he trailed kisses along her jaw. “I won’t, sweetheart. I promise.”
Laken closed her eyes, letting out a moan as Rade began to move inside her. His thrusts were slow and gentle, and she automatically lifted her hips to meet them. Until being with Rade, she didn’t know it was possible for two people to be in such perfect rhythm. It was as if the two of them had been made for each other.
But while slow and gentle was nice, Laken wanted more. Tightening her legs around him, she quickened her movements. “Harder,” she begged. “Fuck me harder!”
He obeyed, pumping into her faster and harder until she was crying out in ecstasy. Laken clutched at his shoulders, her nails digging into his skin as wave after wave of pleasure rippled through her.
Rade buried his face in her hair with a hoarse groan, and Laken knew he was coming with her. Their shared pleasure brought tears of happiness to her eyes, and she held onto him more tightly as her orgasm continued to wash over her.
As she lay in Rade’s arms basking in the afterglow of their lovemaking, Laken knew she was exactly where she belonged, and that she was never going to leave again.
Chapter Twelve
“You know, it killed me to let you go,” Rade said, his voice soft and husky in the darkened cabin.
Laken’s heart squeezed in her chest at his words, and she lifted her head from his shoulder to look at him. “Then why did you make me leave?”
He reached up to gently brush her hair back from her face. “I told myself it was because I wanted to keep you safe, but deep down, I think it was because I really didn’t feel I had anything to offer you.”
She didn’t know whether to be angry at his stupidity or touched by how much he cared for her. “What about your love?” she asked softly. “Didn’t you know that would be enough for me?”
He pulled her down into his arms and hugged her tightly. “You don’t know how much I’ve wanted to hear you say that. But I didn’t think you’d be willing to give up everything to stay with me. I didn’t even think it was fair to ask it of you.”
Laken let out a sigh. “I wish you would have asked me. It would have made everything a lot easier. “But I suppose it’s just as much my fault as it is yours. When you told me that you wanted me to leave, I almost begged you to let me stay. The only reason I didn’t was because I thought you didn’t want me.”
He smoothed her hair. “I wanted you from the moment Finn dragged you up to my ready room after he caught you in the cargo hold. But I was too stupid to realize it.”
She lifted her head to look at him. “And I was too foolish to see that you weren’t the man I thought you were when we first met.” She gave him a sheepish smile. “I admit, it took me a little while, but eventually, I realized that you weren’t the pirate I took you for. In fact,” she added, leaning close to kiss him, “I think you’re the most wonderful man in the galaxy.”
Rade chuckled. “There are probably a lot of people who would disagree with you on that, but I’m glad you think so.”
She reached up to brush his hair back from his forehead. “I think that part of me knew it all along, but it didn’t really hit me until I got to New Ashanti and went to see Mallin. I took one look at him and realized I felt absolutely nothing for him.”
Rade was silent for a moment, then, “How did your fiancé take it when you told him you weren’t going to be staying?”
She shifted on the bed to prop herself up on an elbow. “I didn’t tell him,”
Rade frowned. “Why not? Did you think he would hurt you?”
She shook her head. “It wasn’t that.” With a sigh, Laken explained about Mallin mysteriously whisking her off to his townhouse in the city when she’d first gotten to New Ashanti. “That night I decided to tell him I was going to be leaving him and New Ashanti. I didn’t know where I was going to go, but I knew I couldn’t marry him when I was in love with you. But when I went to his country house to tell him I was leaving, I stumbled on something that made my confession completely unnecessary.”
“What was that?” Rade asked.
“His wife and children.”
Rade looked incredulous. “He’s married?”
/> She nodded.
Rade was silent for a moment as he digested that information. “What did you do?”
Laken absently made little circles on his bare chest with her finger. “At first, I wasn’t going to do anything. I had already figured out I didn’t feel anything for him, so I didn’t really see the purpose in confronting him. But then I decided I owed it to myself to at least give him a piece of my mind. Even though I didn’t care about him, I was furious he had used me like that. But while I was waiting to speak to Mallin, I overheard him and some other merchants talking about the plan they’d hatched with the Federation to betray Marlon Prime. The whole battle plan was just a ruse to draw all of Marlon Prime’s forces into a single, decisive battle. A battle the Federation knew they would win.” She shook her head. “When I heard that, all I could think about was warning you. So, I left without ever confronting Mallin, found Kavan Durshay back at the spaceport, and convinced him to bring me to your ship.” She shrugged. “You know the rest.”