Heart of Winter: A Sci-fi Alien Warrior Romance (Winter's Edge Book 2)

by Harper, Charlotte A.

  Winter’s Edge:

  Heart of Winter

  By

  Charlotte A. Harper

  Co-author: Sarah Jane Ellis

  Copyright © 2017 by Charlotte A. Harper

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  WARNING: This eBook contains adult situations and adult language that may be considered offensive by some readers.

  This eBook is for sale to adults ONLY.

  Please ensure this eBook is stored somewhere that cannot be accessed by underage readers.

  This is the 2nd Book in the Winter’s Edge Series.

  The author highly recommends reading the previous book in the series for maximum enjoyment and heightened understanding of the story. The previous book in the series can be read for Free using Kindle Unlimited or by purchasing it on Amazon.

  Book 1: Shadows of Winter

  (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01NC23Z61)

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 1

  Jane looked out the window at a sea of stars; each one a tiny pinprick of gold in the middle of a vast ocean of darkness. She had always wanted to see the universe and now here she was, admiring a small part of it from the safety of a ship, the Winter’s Edge. A ship with an arrogant and often sanctimonious captain, who despite these qualities, she had developed complicated feelings for. And of course the ship had a crew as well. A group of people that she had fought side by side with. A group of people she had almost died with.

  It had been one month since they had fought the Umbra, a race of parasitic shadows. The Umbra had planned to spread their body possessing species beyond the small planet that they called home. Of course now there was no species left to spread, as most, if not all of them were dead, a good score of them having died at Jane’s hands.

  She gripped the railing between her fingers, squeezing hard at the memory of it. They had been nothing but shadows but due to their ability to possess a living host they had bled and died like real people. She had tried not to dwell on this the last several weeks but the memory of it kept forcing itself to the surface of her mind.

  “Jane?” The voice was timid and concerned and belonged to one Bry Smith, Jane’s best friend aboard the ship.

  Jane turned around to see Bry’s round face staring back at her. Bry had been wounded fighting the Umbra but had healed up nicely over the past few weeks to the point where she only needed a cane to assist her. She held it now, a shaft of plain brown wood that tapped against the floor as she walked towards Jane. “You looked a little disturbed,” said Bry.

  Jane smiled at her friend, impressed by how well Bry could read her at this point. “I’m fine.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?” replied Jane. Bry gave her a skeptical look which Jane chose to ignore. “You’re moving pretty well today Bry.”

  “Better every day.”

  “That’s good.” Jane paused. “And Walter?”

  Bry’s face reddened and she looked away. “He’s fine.”

  “You two have been spending a lot of time together.” The corners of Jane’s mouth turned upwards into a teasing smile.

  “I suppose. He helps me out.”

  “Is that what we’re calling it?”

  “I’m not sure what you mean.” Bry was now looking to her side like she was having a conversation with the wall.

  “Of course you don’t.” The smile had not faded from Jane’s face. Walter Kane had seemed to be an entitled and egotistical sort of man who thought the world owed him far more than he actually deserved. But lately, Jane’s opinion of him had softened. He had proven himself more capable than she would have thought when they fought the Umbra and then he had shown a surprising amount of tenderness towards Bry after she had been injured. The two of them now seemed to be joined at the hip, with Walter often following her through the hallways and corridors of the ship to make sure she didn’t fall while continuously inquiring about her well-being. Jane might have found his attentions tiresome after a while, but Bry seemed to enjoy the constant fawning and so the two had become the closest of companions during the last several weeks.

  “I swear, there’s nothing going on between us” said Bry, trying but failing to sound convincing.

  “I never said there was.”

  “Well ,you seem to be implying—” The sound of heavy footsteps interrupted Bry mid-sentence and caused both girls to turn around to see Damion Winter coming towards them, his broad shoulders and bulky frame filling the entranceway in front of them.

  “Mrs. Smith” said Damion, giving Bry a curt nod. He turned to look at Jane. “I need to speak with you in my office.” His voice bordering on sharp.

  “Why, did I do something?” inquired Jane. Bry looked at both of them, a curious expression on her face.

  Damion pointed his finger at the floor. “Right now”

  “Sure thing, Captain.” Jane faced Bry and gave her a pat on the arm. “Get some rest. I’ll see you tonight for dinner.” Bry gave her another concerned look but nodded and turned away. The sound of her cane striking against the metal floor could be heard as she moved down the hallway.

  When Jane thought Bry was far enough away, she turned to Damion, her gaze steady. “Lead the way.”

  He looked at her for a moment and then turned on his heel. He was moving quickly and she had to hurry the pace of her footsteps to keep up. When they reached his office, he punched in a key-code causing the doors to slide open.

  They walked into a sparsely furnished room, its lack of ostentation an apt reflection of its occupant. Damion turned towards her, his hands on his hips. He looked at her with a fair amount of uncertainty, like he wasn’t sure how to proceed.

  Jane raised her eyebrows, “Well?”

  This seemed to put an end to his indecision and within moments he was wrapping her in his arms and kissing her. Jane didn’t fight him and instead reached up to grab hold of the two horns jutting out from the top of his head. Minutes later, they were on the floor, both of them in various stages of undress. Damion was on top of her, his lips finding every inch of her pale skin. His hands moved freely about her body, caressing, squeezing and even pinching in some cases. Jane wrapped her legs around him as their bodies pressed further together. They ended their session with Damion rolling off of her and then pulling her along with him so that their positions had switched, her head now resting against his chest. She placed her head against his skin and could hear his heart beating wildly which made her smile. He let out a deep breath as he ran his hand through her hair, now tangled and matted by sweat.

  “You handled that well back there,” said Jane.

  “I always do,” he said.

  Jane gave him a ligh
t slap against his shoulder. “Not that. When I was talking with Bry. I don’t know if you know this, but you play the role of domineering asshole very well.”

  His lips gave a slight upward twitch, which was about as close as Damion could get to a genuine smile. “I’ve had a lot of practice.”

  “Perhaps too much.”

  “Do you still think so little of me?”

  “I’d say that whatever I thought of you before, my opinion is rapidly changing.”

  “Good.” he said, sounding pleased. “You know I have to talk to you like that, don’t you? That it’s just pretend?”

  “I realize you’re putting on a performance for the others.”

  “In a way, yes. They can’t know about this.”

  “Why not?” said Jane, already knowing the answer but wanting to hear him explain it again.

  “Because I’m the Captain of this ship. I can’t be thought of as playing favorites.”

  Jane let out a deep sigh. “I suppose not.” The secrecy was fun at the moment but Jane knew that it wouldn’t stay that way and hiding her feelings was not something she enjoyed doing or was even particularly good at.

  “How are your dreams?” he said, changing the subject to something even less pleasant than the current one.

  “They’re fine” she lied.

  “Are you sure?”

  “I had a few nightmares, like I told you about but they’ve been better in the past several days.

  “That’s good” he said, stroking the top of her head. “If they come back, you know you can always talk to me, right?”

  “Of course” said Jane. She wasn’t so sure though. She remembered how he had pulled the trigger without a moment’s hesitation on the leader of the Umbra, a man by the name of Mason. If he could kill that easily, could he really understand what she was going through?

  There came a knock on the door.

  “Hey Captain,” came a rough, but feminine voice. “We need to talk.”

  Damion moved quickly, putting on his clothes while Jane made to do the same. After they were fully dressed, he opened the door to reveal Savannah Tallbright, a muscular looking woman with curled horns on top of her head and magenta colored skin. She was Damion’s best friend since childhood and his closest confidante aboard the ship.

  Savannah looked at Damion and then past him at Jane, a smile beginning to build on her face. “Well, what do we have here?”

  “Nothing.” Damion’s face began to flush. “We were just talking.”

  “Among other things I’m sure.”

  “Look Savannah—” began Damion before Savannah cut him off by putting a gentle hand on his shoulder.

  “You can’t lie to me Damion. Maybe to everyone else on this ship. But not to me.”

  He gave an uncomfortable nod and fell silent.

  “Oh, cheer up. I’ve got good news.”

  “What’s that?”

  “We’ve got a new mission” Savannah repliedwith a grin.

  Chapter 2

  “Who’s the client?”

  “A total asswipe as usual,” said Savannah.

  “Savannah!” Damion voice was stern and bordering on reproach.

  “God, lighten up a little. You think you might be a little more relaxed after, you know-” Savannah gestured towards him and then Jane.

  Jane felt herself stifling a laugh which she knew would only further infuriate Damion.

  “Can you just tell me what they want?” said Damion, his voice betraying a note of exasperation.

  “A stone.”

  “What?”

  “That’s what they want. A stone.”

  “A fucking stone,” repeated Damion.

  “That’s the one.”

  “Anything special about this particular stone?”

  “It’s some kind of family heirloom. Got their house symbol carved into it.”

  “And they want us to find it?”

  “That would be the gist of it. Can’t put a price on sentimentality I guess.”

  Damion scratched at his chin. “Oh, we’re going to put a price on it.”

  “I was hoping you’d say that.”

  “They gave us any clues where to start?”

  “They were actually pretty helpful in that regard. Said, it had to be somewhere on a planet by the name of Baravia.”

  “What do we know about it?”

  “Small little planet on the outer ring. Only has one colony on it owing to the fact that the surface of the planet is pretty much a desert wasteland.”

  Damion nodded and ran his hand over the top of his head. “Alright. Go tell Charlie to set a course for it.” Charlie was the ship’s mechanic and sometimes pilot. Jane had a certain amount of fondness for him, owing to his polite and often quiet demeanor. He was a man of few words but was one of the most reliable people she had ever met.

  After Savannah had left, Jane turned to look at Damion. “A new mission.” She felt a certain amount of dread at the prospect. They hadn’t taken on a mission since their battle with the Umbra. Ever since, setting foot on another world especially one that was on the outer ring, had her feeling more than a little trepid.

  “It will be all right.” He put his hands on her shoulders and held her with his gaze. “We’ll be more careful this time.”

  “We were careful last time” she said.

  “I need you to trust me. We need this. We’re running low on money and the only way this ship keeps on flying is by taking on more missions. I promise, they’re not all like the last one.”

  Jane returned his gaze. “Okay, I trust you.”

  “Good. Now, I need to get ready. We’ll talk soon, okay?”

  Jane nodded and began to make her way to the door, pausing to look back at Damion as he settled behind his desk and began pulling up holograms. One of them, a 3-D model of a planet with the word Baravia written about it. It will be different this time, she told herself. It will be different.

  ***

  Jane sat in an armchair, her face close to the pages of a book, a nearby lamp suffusing her surroundings with a gentle glow. Opposite her was professor-Jung, his features dark enough to fade into the shadows of the room except for his olive colored eyes which shone like twin beacons through the dark. His tail was curled tightly around one of the legs of his chair. Beside him was Achilles, his yellow eyes just as visible as the Professors and his two front teeth jutting out from his mouth like twin swords. He gave a protracted yawn before setting about licking his paws with his rather long tongue.

  “So we have a new mission,” said Professor Jung leaning back in his chair, his eyes closed.

  “Seems that way,” said Jane.

  “You don’t sound entirely pleased.”

  “I don’t know how to feel.”

  Professor Jung folded his arms. “I see.”

  “Savannah said the mission was on a planet named Baravia.” She looked at the Professor in a questioning manner. Professor Jung was the most knowledgeable person on the ship having previously taught the subject of Archetypal Roles in Alien Societies on Sannarosa, a planet that housed the greatest library in the universe.

  “I’ve heard of it, yes,” he said, looking thoughtful. “It was in the news several years back. The Planetary Coalition had just sponsored the Germain Family to build a colony there.”

  The Planetary Collation was the current ruling government and had been for the past fifty years ever since the Fourth Great War. As far as Jane could tell it was a mostly perfunctory organization that loosely held together warring tribes of sociopaths which masqueraded as “families”. The Coalition had just enough influence and power to keep these so called “Families” from tearing each other to pieces in open warfare. However, it didn’t have enough sway to stop the corruption, lying, backstabbing, and numerous assignation attempts that went on behind the scenes. It also didn’t see fit to stop them from owning most of the prime real-estate in the universe. Most colonies were not government owned and were instead the property of
this family or that family. Instead, the only involvement the coalition had in such affairs was to mediate conflict and provide sponsorship, which was dispensed often and freely, like candy to a pack of greedy children.

  “The story was notable at the time,” continued Professor Jung, “Because previously nobody had believed that a colony could exist on such a world. The temperature was thought to be far too hot to support any kind of life. But somehow, they managed it.”

  Jane sighed. This wasn’t making her feel much better. “Thanks Professor.” She closed her book, The Adventures of Bill Saunter, Professional Bounty Hunter Volume 2.

  “I think I’m going to go lie down for a bit. It’s been a long day.”

  “You should get your rest while you can. I suspect we have a long trip ahead of us.”

  ***

  Jane walked back to her quarters, her mind and body drained from the day’s events. She thought about Damion and how real a relationship with him seemed, perhaps something that was forever out of reach. She thought about Baravia and all the possible things that could go wrong while cursing herself for being afraid. All of these thoughts competed against one another until her head ached.

  She walked up to the room that she and Bry had shared since the first day she had boarded the ship. It had become a refuge for her the past several weeks. A place to get away from everyone else and be alone with her thoughts and sometimes Bry who was often asleep or sufficiently lulled into a quiet stupor herself. Jane punched in her key code and the door slid open.

  As she stepped into the dark room, she heard a mixture of grunts and soft, nearly silent cries of pleasure. She flicked on the lights.