by Linda Mooney
“We’ll be all right, Deceiver,” Hunter promised, giving him a solemn look. Dropping his voice, he added, “Trust me. I would never jeopardize the team. And heavens know I can’t let anything happen to Star.”
Deceiver never got the chance to respond.
Hunter was gone.
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Chapter 16
Reconnaissance
Star was on her feet, waiting for him when the inner door opened. He could see her suit had reverted back to its normal black, but her skin continued to glow. She was fully charged and ready to fly.
Silently she took the headset from him, at the last second letting his fingers clasp hers. She glanced up to see his worry for her reflected on his face, turning his eyes an almost stormy blue. He mouthed two words. Be careful. Nodding, she waited until the outer doors opened, then stepped out into the open sky.
“How do we handle this?” she breathed. The fog surrounding them was making it difficult to see their intended targets. “Where are we going, Hunter?”
“Let’s take it ship by ship, Star.”
“What? You’re going to pop inside an Ombitran vessel just like that, and get a quick look-see?” Star snorted.
“Don’t you underestimate what I can and can’t do.” His gentle admonishment stung.
“How do you plan to proceed?” It was Deceiver, listening in, and reminding Star the entire ship could hear what she and Hunter were saying, although only a few would be able to respond back.
“Tell us what the Ombitra look like,” Hunter asked. His powers wouldn’t focus until he got some idea as to what he was looking for.
He wasn’t in the ship. Star glanced around. Where in the world was he? He had to be nearby. Her skin was buzzing, telling her he was within at least ten or so feet from her, but the air surrounding her was empty, and she knew he couldn’t fly like she could.
“Hunter? What’s your location?”
“Nearby,” he answered obliquely. “Deceiver?”
“Tall and leathery. Some are a dark red. Others black or brown. We’ve never been able to figure out if the different colors signify anything. Let’s just say that if you see a really ugly cuss, that’s an Ombitra.”
“Oh, gee, thanks,” Star remarked sarcastically. In the background she could hear some of the others laughing.
“How do you feel about blazing a little trail across the sky, Star?”
“Just tell me in which direction. Are you thinking diversion?”
“Precisely. Just make it big, bright, and fancy. Take it west to east, and be sure to drop out at the horizon; make it look like a burnout.”
“Gotcha. Anything else, oh bossy one?”
“Yeah. Go straight back to the ship when you’re done.”
His last remark rankled. But she knew that if she argued, she wouldn’t win. The man had a hold on her that was as solid as her love for him. No. If she had other plans, it was best to keep mum and play her hand when it was time.
“Star?” He was waiting for her reply. She hoped she sounded adequately pissed off but accepting.
“Yeah. Back to the ship. Copy.”
There was a slight hesitation. “All right. When you get in position, let me know.”
“Careful, Star,” Deceiver’s voice echoed.
Star nodded, even though she knew they wouldn’t see her, and headed away from where the Ombitran vessels were scattered. When she flared, it would take her close within their proximity. By making it look as though she was a rogue meteorite heading toward them, the enemy would keep a close eye on her in the event of a possible collision.
A few minutes later, she looped around and came to a halt. “I’m ready, Hunter. But I have to tell you, if I flare, it’s going to burn this headset up. Commander still hasn’t come up with a piece of equipment that can withstand the full brunt of my magnetic forces.”
“On my count then,” Hunter intoned.
“Star?” It was Commander, obviously cutting in on Deceiver’s headset. “When you get back to the ship, you’re welcome to kiss my butt. Nothing has been built that can take your magnetic forces, so don’t drop the blame in my lap, woman!”
Star broke up laughing, along with the rest of the ship. To her delight, Hunter was laughing as well.
She no longer tingled, which meant he was nowhere near her, but something just didn’t add up. Hunter popped from one place to another, and depending on how far apart the two locations were determined how quickly he got there. Unless he had been in the ship, there was no “place” where he could have been and still make her body respond. And Star knew for certain he hadn’t been on the ship.
“Star, on my count. Ready?”
“Put your shades on people. I’m still revved up from my little dance,” she smiled.
Was it her imagination, or was there a strange quiet coming from Three?
“Five. Four. Three. Two. One. Go!”
She arched her back, holding her arms perpendicular to her body, and exploded in multi-colored incandescence. Her body flared white, and then went into a spectrum of light no human or alien eye could view straight on.
Pushing away from the planet’s gravitational field, Star hurtled like a flaming comet, up into the edge of space before curving downward and racing faster and faster toward the western edge of the void. It was only the second time she had done this trick since she’d become a Guardian. A smile of satisfaction creased her lips as she imagined her teammates glued to the viewports to watch her burning across the sky with a tail of blues and reds and oranges following her like a long, iridescent train.
She took her time, keeping herself as brightly lit as she could manage. Hunter wanted a diversion that would keep the Ombitrans’ attention focused on her. To keep the ruse lifelike, she rolled and tumbled sideways, imitating a chunk of space debris burning up in the atmosphere. Later she knew she would feel drained and not worth a damn, after expending such tremendous energy in this wild, exuberant burst. But right now, she could almost scream for the sheer pleasure of not having to hold back.
Once she passed over the glittering, angular ships below, Star gave it one final “burnout” burst, simulating the last dying gasp of a fallen star, and went immediately to black. Over and over she tumbled downward, hoping there was enough air between her and the ground to cushion her fall and slow her enough to where it wouldn’t hurt too much when she landed.
The hillock of wild grasses kept her from breaking any bones, but the impact still managed to knock the wind out of her. Long minutes passed as she lay there, gasping for breath. Her suit was solid black; the coalescing pattern of stars normally flowing across it had been burnt into temporary darkness.
She managed to roll onto her back when a familiar feeling washed over her. Closing her eyes, she waited for his touch. The sound of his voice.
“Star? How are you doing?”
She opened her eyes to see him kneeling down beside her. Damn, he looked so good, especially with that little worry line running across his forehead.
“I’ll live, but I’m going to be black and blue tomorrow, let me tell you. Did it work, boss?”
He grinned at her. “It worked. I managed to get a good look-see during your light show. Can you manage to get back to Three on your own?”
“Yeah.” She tried to sit up amid aching muscles. The groan that escaped her was unexpected. Hunter’s expression shifted from relieved back to worried. “It’s all right,” she reassured him, holding out a hand so he could help her up. “Think of it as doing an exercise you haven’t done in a long time, and finding out afterwards which muscles you’d been neglecting.”
She started to say more when Hunter jerked his headset off and thumbed the switch, turning it off. Before she could ask him why he’d done that, strong hands reached out and pulled her up onto her feet, where warm arms wrapped around her until she was securely held against that marvelously protective chest she adored.
Quietly, Star buried her face in his
neck as her arms tightened around his shoulders. Several seconds passed as they stood, encased in each other’s embrace. It felt so natural and perfect, with his hands holding her along her lower back and ribs. Pressing her tightly, possessively against him. The feeling was more comforting than she could remember.
A pair of lips brushed her temple, making her wish again that she could accept him in the light. She was slowly getting to the point where the thought of it no longer frightened her, but it would be a while longer before that could happen. But until she could, he would not touch her lips with his. In the past, the first thing any man she had dated had wanted to do was to mash his mouth against hers. Sometimes sloppily. Sometimes hard. Often hurtful, as if force and pressure were the hallmarks of a passionate kiss.
Hunter had kissed and tongued and nibbled almost every inch of her body. She knew his mouth almost as intimately as the rest of him. Only, they had never truly kissed. The lack of it made her lips hungry to feel them. She wanted to know, needed to know if he could burn her soul with his hot mouth as easily as he burned her skin.
And I promise you, I will kiss you like no other man has ever kissed you, or will ever kiss you.
A shiver ran through her, and Hunter squeezed her tighter. “Talk to me, my heart,” he whispered in her ear.
Pressing her lips to his throat, where his neck was bare above the collar of his tunic, Star wanted to ask him a hundred questions. She had to know, for the sake of her heart and her sanity, would he still be within her reach after she conceived? They would still be Guardians. That was their life’s duty. But was what she was feeling also running through his veins? Did his heart leap whenever she entered the room, like hers did? Did he spend nights tossing and turning in bed because it had become too empty and too cold? Did he caress himself when he was in his cleansing chamber, and imagine a lover’s touch upon his skin?
A lover’s touch…
“Udo.” It was more breath than word. His mouth found her pulse beneath her ear as he freed a hand to push away her wealth of glossy black hair, and his tongue sent sparks all the way down to her toes.
A tinny beep sounded. With an abruptness that surprised her, Hunter suddenly released her and stepped back, jamming the headset back on and thumbing the mike open. “Yeah, Deceiver. Be there in a sec.”
Star felt her skin contracting in the rush of cold that swept over her, as his warmth was no longer keeping her comfortable. As she watched him answer the comm link, it dawned on her that they had just held each other in the full light of day. In uniform. With her mind and her body reaching for him, and now watching him as he stood staring at her with those blue eyes she would love to fly in.
Hunter.
Udo.
Hunter.
She blinked. Udo.
Udo.
Her eyes dropped to the notched neckline of his uniform, seeing it for the first time, not as the attire he wore daily when he was a Guardian, but as just another piece of clothing keeping his body hidden and apart from hers. She couldn’t see any buttons. No fasteners that she could tell. How in the world did he put it on? Screw that—how did he take it off?
Her gaze dropped further. He was wearing boots. Were they ankle high? Or higher? It was hard to tell with his long pants.
“Star?”
Slowly, she lifted her eyes to see a gentle smile on his face. Did he realize what was happening to her? Could he grasp the miracle that was coming over her? A small, tentative smile lit her face, and Star gently shook her head. “No,” she murmured quietly so the headset wouldn’t pick up her voice. “Not now. Right now my name is Terrin.”
Her eyes centered on his mouth. He had a beautiful smile. A perfect smile. A loving smile. It had the power to make her happy just to dwell on it.
“My name is Terrin, Udo. And I think I’ve fallen in love with you.”
There. It was out, and she wasn’t frightened any longer. She hadn’t planned on telling him. Not now. And certainly not like this. But it sounded like the most natural thing, to tell him. To admit that, in fact, it felt…
He stepped closer to her, close enough to block the sunlight. His hand reached up to her face, and Star closed her eyes, ready to feel him nuzzle her cheek or her temple, as he always did when he lowered his face.
Her world came to a shattering halt as his mouth came down over hers. Taking her sanity, claiming her heart, drawing everything away from her until she could no longer breathe. Or think. Or have any other sensation numbing every nerve in her body except for the giving and taking caress of his lips.
Life was in his lips. He gave her life. Intoxicating, soul-shaking, mind-blanking life. He held her cheek with one hand, and his lips possessed hers until she could do nothing but fall weakly against him and let him have absolute control of her. Hoping he would take her over and over. Feeling his tongue delving as deeply into this part of her body at this moment the same way he’d taken her virginity in her lonely little bed back at Guardian Command. Taking her further and further away from here and now, until the center of her universe was contained in the length and breadth of one man. One friend, one teammate, one incredible lover.
A soft chuckle vibrated in his chest. “Think?” he asked with his spicy breath and that deep voice that filled her head with memories of passion-filled nights. With promises of more to come.
“I swear by all the stars in the heavens, Udo,” she somehow managed to confess as his lips sipped her like precious water. “I love you.”
A thought flashed through her mind, and the moment was ripped apart as she gasped for breath and shoved herself away from his embrace. Eyes wild with dread faced him as she stared at the headset still braced around his ear. “Please tell me,” she managed to gasp, motioning toward the device.
Had they heard? Had she just confessed her deepest feelings to Hunter, just to have the rest of their colleagues hear them as well? Oh, please! Please, no!
Hunter continued to watch her, an amused smile gracing those incredible lips, as he pulled the headset off and held it out to her. The light on the side of the transmitter glowed red. Red, not green. He had turned it off right after he had spoken to Deceiver.
The others didn’t know. And they wouldn’t know, until she was ready to tell them. Relief gushed out of her in a whoosh of breath.
Hunter started to reach for her again, when a blast tore through the ground less than a mile away from them, but the earth beneath their feet erupted, sending them both tumbling backwards. “Get to the ship!” he yelled at her.
“Not without you!”
“Don’t worry, my love. I’ll beat you there.” And he was gone.
With an extra burst of speed, Star raced straight upward, searching for the transport. It wasn’t until she was engulfed within the clouds that she realized what Hunter had said to her. This time he hadn’t called her “my heart”. He had called her “my love”.
Closing her eyes, Star bit her lips to keep from crying.
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Chapter 17
Clock
Guardian Transport Three began to sink down through the clouds. Star could see they had already begun evasive maneuvers, meaning the outer hull door would be sealed, preventing her from boarding immediately. Because nothing could bar Hunter from passing through solid metal, she knew he would already be onboard. Okay, so she had been ordered straight back to the ship. She’d have to wait now until the all clear was given before she could do that.
Another blast passed high and to the right, missing them by a wide margin. The Ombitrans were firing at random. Either that, or they had no idea where their target was hiding, and were hoping for a lucky hit.
She kept close to the ship, following it down to where it settled in a narrow valley, hidden from sight by a tall copse of vining plant life. Three’s force field would protect her from being bathed in residue from a direct blow, but as long as it was on, she couldn’t approach to board, either.
A massive wind began blowing fro
m behind, nearly tossing her to the ground. Three reeled, rocking sideways as it deployed its landing gear.
Picking herself up, Star tossed her hair back over her shoulder and narrowed her eyes at the massive enemy craft passing over them from nearly a mile up. It was searching for them, knowing somehow that they were there. Somewhere. She hesitated, knowing she needed to communicate with the rest inside, but the diamond-like behemoth floating past was too great a temptation. Despite the fact that it was moving slowly, there was a chance it could step up its pace at any second and head out into space before she could get another earpiece.
“Let’s see how you feel about a little extra propulsion,” she muttered as she launched herself directly at the underbelly of the beast.
As she drew nearer, the shiny skin over the hull winked at her. Lifting her arms, Star sent out a tiny pulse of magnetic current. The ship sucked her up against itself as smoothly as gliding across a sun’s corona.
Pressed along its bottom hull, Star felt its pulse beating across her muscles, a steady, stinging tempo that threatened to give her a headache if she didn’t pull away soon. But she had found out something that would give her a distinct edge when it came time to fight this enemy, and Star wondered if the rest knew the information.
Carefully she detached herself from the hull and let herself freefall until she was clear of its passing backwash. She remained airborne, watching the Ombitran vessel fade into the distance, and waited for it to be safe enough away. Only then did she drop back planetside to join the other Guardians.
They were gathered inside a small clearing in meeting formation. As she landed lightly on her feet, she started to tell them about what she’d discovered when Deceiver descended upon her with sharp and bitter words.
“Since when have you decided you are no longer part of this company?”
Stunned by his accusation, Star took a step back. “What are you talking about?”