Another explosion rocked the ship, and he gripped the controls in front of him. Glancing around, everyone maintained their positions. Dawn’s back was to him, her hands white-knuckling the control panel in front of her. He turned his attention back to the commander.
“Let us know how we can assist,” he told her, using his calm tone, knowing Dawn would do better if she didn’t realize the severity of their dilemma at the moment.
They were in immediate line of fire.
Another explosion shook the ship, way too close for comfort. Lights flickered around them, and the screen in front of them went blank.
“Trent!” Dawn cried out, her fears climaxing in her tone.
“Switch me over to manual communications,” Trent barked, pulling his comm from his pocket.
He quickly wrapped it around his face and spoke to the commander through the small device.
“The attack is directly on Greneen,” Mash Ke announced. “The scopers are surrounding us, and it appears there are at least ten more ships appearing on the scanners.”
“Take out as many as you can,” Trent ordered and at the same time moved over to Dawn’s station.
She hadn’t moved when he gave the order. Dawn sucked in air, fighting the panic that rushed through her. Bortan were everywhere—all over again. Trent was behind her immediately, his powerful arms reaching around her, his hands moving over hers as he reached for the buttons.
“I can do it,” she whispered, almost more to herself than to him.
She wouldn’t break. She wouldn’t let the Bortan get the better of her. If she was going to die today, she would be damned if she didn’t go down with a fight.
Chapter Nineteen
It could have been hours, or maybe days that passed and Dawn wasn’t sure. Her hair hung heavily around her face, nervous sweat coating her body. The temperature controls weren’t functioning properly. They couldn’t be. She was way too warm.
Trent stayed close to her side, managing to move from the helm to her weapons panel with quick ease. He had to give it to her, Dawn was holding her own. A few times she hesitated, looking around her as if the walls would reveal what was going on around them in space.
More than fear, he saw curiosity and wonder in those beautiful gray eyes. The men he had hired stayed close to their task, manning their position with skill and ease. Borna paced behind them, her nervous energy filtering around them. But Dawn had her attention everywhere as if she needed to see everything that happened around her and didn’t want to miss a thing. Her expression glowed with her emotions showing. She was more alive than he’d ever seen her.
The attacks were serious, more Bortan ships had been sent out than he’d initially thought. Adrenaline pumped through him, ships blowing up around them, while continual transmissions flooded the airwaves. Calls for help, victory cries, all of it surrounded him, filling him with an energy that surged through his blood.
Her ship was holding up. Monitoring the battle going on around them, Trent grieved silently with every Gren ship that exploded. They moved closer to victory, though, every time a Bortan ship exploded.
Curiosity had the better of him, his warrior nature dying to know what compelled the race to launch the attack. He had his suspicions, which he kept to himself for the time being. There was no way to confirm at this point, even though he sensed victory would soon be theirs.
With the initial attack against Gren over, he’d moved Dawn’s ship deeper into space, monitoring activity around the other planets. There was time now to focus on Dawn, her black hair shining down her back, her expression alive with the adrenaline he knew pumped through her. She kept her attention on the screen in front of them, although all it showed was deep space.
Dawn wished she knew what was going on. Time no longer seemed to have meaning. Silence had loomed around the bridge for too long now. Glancing at the warriors Trent had brought with him, she saw the strain etched on their faces. These were Gren, trained warriors, yet they still showed the strain of having been in battle for so long.
Borna didn’t say anything when she walked silently off of the bridge, disappearing through the doorway that led into the kitchen. Dawn stared at the door as it slid silently closed, wishing she could go with her, quench her thirst, sit for just a moment. Her entire body ached, her muscles cramping and her head aching.
“We have an update.” Trent showed no excitement when he made the announcement, his tone calm, relaxed.
Dawn looked over at him. At some point he’d removed his cape and his tall powerful body appeared as refreshed as if he’d just walked on to duty. Too many years as a warrior had seasoned him, made him immune to the stress that wrenched through her.
“Apparently the Bortan attacked Poltar and Benox at the same time we were attacked,” he said, looking down at his controls as he pressed his comm to his ear, listening. “So far, all planets remain in control of themselves. The Bortan are weakening.”
Dawn tried exhaling but it came out as a staggered breath. Trent went to her, knowing she couldn’t take much more without a break. A good warrior kept his crew refreshed, rotating them. He didn’t have that freedom, but he would give her this moment while they had it.
“Come with me,” he told her, taking her arm and pulling her to him as he spoke.
She didn’t fight him, didn’t ask any questions, but leaned against him as he walked off the bridge. His men would hold up for quite some time, but Dawn didn’t have their training, and he needed this moment alone with her.
Borna glanced up at them, having taken respite at the round table in the kitchen area, and stood when they entered. He doubted she would man a post, but she left them, returning to the bridge when they entered.
“I’m proud of you today, warrior,” he whispered, stroking a damp strand away from the side of her face.
Running his hand over the side of her head, her silky hair soft against his palm, he brushed his knuckles against her cheek. She looked up at him, a mixture of worry and relief swarming in the depths of her gray orbs.
Wrapping his arm around her, he stroked her chin with his fingers, leaning her head back further so that he had all of her attention. Silently she called out to him, luring him to her with a brush of her tongue over her lip. He took her mouth, relishing her taste, her heat, her determination to show him she was strong.
She opened to him, her tongue reaching out to greet his, stroke his mouth, feed the hunger he hadn’t paid attention to over the past few hours. When she stretched against him, pressing her breasts against his chest, reaching up to wrap her arms around his neck, he could truly put the battle out of his head, feed off of her. Dawn was a gift he knew he could never let go. No woman could distract him like she could, offer him so much, and stand by his side during battle without a complaint. She wasn’t a warrior. She had no training in battle. Yet she didn’t panic, she didn’t beg to leave. Dawn was a natural-born fighter, a woman who knew what she wanted and wouldn’t settle for less.
Something washed through him, an emotion he couldn’t name. Ownership—no, fulfillment. Dawn was his other half, the woman he needed with him to complete who he was. With slow realization, the fact that he loved her took over his thoughts.
He wrapped both his arms around her, holding her so close he could feel her hipbones pressing against him, her breasts smashed into his chest, her slender body molding against him like a perfect fit, the gentle throb of her heart.
“Damn,” he whispered into her mouth, opening his eyes to look down at her flushed expression.
“Don’t let go,” she whispered, her lips glistening from his mouth.
“I don’t plan on it.” And he meant it.
For the first time in his life he knew he was where he belonged, holding the woman who embraced him with just as much desire for him as he had for her.
“Do you think the battle is over?” she asked, tracing lines with her fingertips against his shoulders.
She watched the action, feeling his muscles ti
ghten and the quiver against her touch. He was so solid, yet she felt like she could reach right through him. For the first time since she’d met Trent Dar, she swore his emotions merged with her own. He watched her. She knew that without looking up at his face, he’d relaxed, still holding her against him, but she sensed something she hadn’t experienced with him yet.
“We don’t have final reports in yet.” He knew it would take hours before everyone reported in, and he had a feeling the information wouldn’t be good.
Never had the Bortan staged such a large attack. Something had triggered their wrath, their motivation to strike out at all planets at once. Either they were close to destruction, and making one final attempt to regain control. Or they had been so outraged by some occurrence that they had retaliated out of fury. He knew the answers would come soon.
In the meantime, all he wanted was to hold Dawn, be as close to her as possible. Now wasn’t the time for lovemaking, which was what he wanted to do. He ached to take her into her bedroom, slowly undress her and enjoy every sultry curve of her body.
Trent craved to be inside her, fuck her until she screamed. But he wanted—no, he needed so much more than that. He gave in to his thoughts. He wanted to make love to her, take her in a way he’d never had a woman before. He wanted her to know his feelings, his thoughts, and he needed to know hers.
“How much time do we have?” She looked up at him with her long lashes fluttering over her gray eyes.
Heat flushed her cheeks, adding to her sensuality. Her gaze was seductive, a look he prayed she’d never given another man. Gods. More than anything he wanted to know she was his that she would never turn to another man. He needed that information, that confirmation.
Dawn moved against him. It was on the tip of her tongue to suggest they go to her bedroom. They wouldn’t be bothered. The men he’d brought with him wouldn’t dare disturb Trent Dar. And Borna would be fine. Dawn wasn’t worried about her. All she could think about was his hard cock that throbbed against her, letting her know that he needed her as much as she needed him.
“Not enough time for that,” he told her, a growl escaping him before he could silence it.
Dawn sighed, that growl of his soaking her pussy. A pressure began in her womb, building, intensifying, slowly consuming her until she swore she would cry out with the pain of needing him.
“There’s got to be enough time for something.” She needed him more than she needed to breathe.
Running her palms down his arms, gripping his hard muscles, feeling his strength, she looked up into those solid black eyes. Never had he looked at her the way he did right now. She dared to reach up, stroke his cheek, the smallest of muscles twitching when she stroked the bottom of his cheek.
“Woman. You could make me forget our worlds are under attack.”
She sighed, looking down. She was being selfish and he was right. Forcing herself to think of how her home had been destroyed, of all the bodies she had helped bury, she suddenly felt bad for wanting time alone with Trent. There were people dying because of the Bortan attacks. Possibly all planets had seen destruction. She didn’t know, and she should be trying to find out, not standing here trying to seduce Trent.
A beeping sound grabbed both of their attention.
The door to the bridge slid open and Rog Mor filled the entrance, his intent gaze not missing what was happening between the two of them.
He cleared his voice. “Command Center is asking to open a line,” he said without giving any indication if catching them in a compromising position bothered him, or if the incoming transmission bothered him or not.
“We can take it in here,” Dawn said, letting her hands fall free from Trent.
Trent nodded to the Gren who took a step backward and then turned, the door to the kitchen sliding silently shut, leaving them alone once again.
Trent moved away from her, turning his back to her as he faced the wall, pushing the buttons to accept the transmission.
“This is Trent Dar,” he said, his voice so formal no one would have guessed moments before he’d been in her arms.
She couldn’t help but take in his backside, his broad shoulders, the way his black hair fell down his neck. He was so powerful, could have anything he wanted, and the passion that burned through him to fight for any cause if he deemed it right made her heart swell with a realization that she didn’t want to live without him.
Dawn sucked in a breath, the pressure that had consumed her turning into a painful need. Her heart stuttered through a few beats, her entire insides aching like they never had before. She wanted him—no, she needed him. Trent Dar had taken over her thoughts, her body, her entire sense of being. Dawn realized with a staggering realization that she might be experiencing love. She could be falling in love. The thought brought her pause. There was no way she’d ever experienced love. She’d cared for her mom, wanted no harm brought to her. But had she loved the woman who’d borne her, who’d given her life? If she had, it had never felt like this.
“Dar. This is Mal Ree,” a woman’s voice said. “We’ve had quite a few casualties here and I’ve been asked to request you return to Molten.”
“Where is Por Gree? How bad were you hit?” Trent asked, giving no sign that it mattered to him how bad the manmade satellite was hit.
“Por Gree is dead. Our casualties are high.” The woman spoke with an eerie calmness that chilled Dawn’s blood.
She moved closer to Trent, her thoughts immediately going to Pahr, Reen and Rayn. They had no way of defending themselves. She shouldn’t have left them when she knew they couldn’t manage without her. She ran her hand up his arm, gripping the solid muscle, needing his strength while she stared at the small panel on the wall. That piece of machinery embedded in the solid wall of her ship held the knowledge of whether the only people from her home still lived or not.
“We need to go there,” she whispered, knowing she wouldn’t be able to think straight until she knew if her friends were safe or not.
“I’ve been asked to seek your assistance,” the woman said. “For now, the Bortan have backed off. But most of our sensors are down, and we can’t determine if there will be another attack or not.”
“On our way,” Trent said without ceremony.
He quit the transmission and then turned, leaving her standing there while he returned to the bridge.
“We’re headed to Poltar,” he announced to the small crew, taking his place at the helm, and staring at the main screen.
He focused on no one, giving no indication of how the information had just affected him.
Chapter Twenty
“We’re here!” Rayn clapped her hands, hurrying to the landing bay doors before Dawn had even stopped her ship.
Several weeks had passed, and she felt nothing inside. Dawn knew there should be some sort of excitement, some sort of deep satisfaction in knowing the Bortan had been conquered, their ships had been destroyed and Poltar was now free of the disgusting race. She should be elated that she had the funds to rebuild Ryl, that she was returning to the only home she had ever known.
It hadn’t been hard to find workers willing to help her rebuild the Ryl Plantation. Rayn, Pahr and Reen couldn’t wait to come home, see what had been done in restoring their home. Dawn wished she could feel just a bit of their excitement.
She brought the ship to a halt, shutting down the engines once it rested on solid ground. Following her friends, she exited the place that felt more like home to her now than she feared any new home might.
The brightness of the suns made her squint, warm air sinking into her skin.
“We’re home,” Pahr said, wrapping his arm around her.
His hug should have been reassuring.
“It’s good to be here,” she said, managing a smile for all of them.
They walked over the uneven ground, all of them focusing on the large structure that the people she had hired had managed to build in the past few weeks. It was far from being the home that
once stood there, but they had come a long way.
“I want to go inside.” Rayn clapped her hands together, turning with an eager grin toward all of them.
“We’ve got smaller cottages suitable to house you for the time it takes to finish the main house.” A foreman had walked up to greet them, wiping his hands against his shirt. “That cook you hired does a mighty fine job, and the rooms in the cottages are clean. I’ll be happy to show you each to where you can stay for the time being.”
Dawn didn’t care where she stayed. Returning to her ship would have been fine with her. But Poltar needed her. The people were rebuilding, seeing hope, taking back their towns and trying to reestablish a life for themselves.
She glanced up at Molten, barely visible against the glare of the suns. Somewhere on that manmade satellite, Trent Dar oversaw the command position of Command Center. Having been offered the position if he would reenlist, Dawn had known Trent wouldn’t turn it down. She needed to be happy for him. And he wasn’t that far away, living and working on the moon that orbited her home planet.
He might as well have been in another solar system though. She ached for him so desperately but knew he had his work up there, and her work was down here. Her people needed her, and she had plenty to do to keep her busy until she dropped from exhaustion at night. It was all that kept her going, and all that would keep her going.
She wished she could regain her heart, recapture her ability to care. But Trent Dar had taken it, and she doubted she would feel again without him at her side.
Walking across the land that she now officially owned, she strayed away from the others, her feet leading her to a private area without a thought entering her mind. Before she realized it, she stood alone in the quiet meadow, the hidden sanctuary where her mother rested.
Sucking in a breath of warm air, she looked down at the simple grave marker. She blinked, her eyes suddenly burning from tears that refused to fall.
“Hi, Mom,” she said, her voice cracking. “I’m home.”
Sex Slaves 03 Waiting for Dawn Page 19