Jude (sci-fi romance - The Ember Quest Book 5)

by Arcadia Shield

  Octavia’s breath hitched, and a shudder ran through her. Jude had rescued her. He’d arrived when she’d needed him the most and saved her. She would never forget that. Some of the panic and fear left her. She became aware of Jude’s hard chest muscles underneath her cheek and the steady thrum of his heart.

  She twisted her head and kissed the fabric of his shirt. “Thanks.”

  “For what?” His voice was deep and low.

  “For everything. For being here. For looking out for me.”

  “Always and forever.” Jude’s hands stroked down her back before he lifted her chin and ran a thumb along her scars.

  On instinct, she tensed, but then relaxed. It was Jude. Her scars didn’t bother him, and the fact she’d lost her hair hadn’t fazed him either. He was amazing.

  He kissed her lips. It was a soft, gentle touch, demanding nothing but stirring a heat inside her. “How’s your cheek doing? The bruising has already lessened.”

  “It feels better.” Octavia didn’t care about the fracture. She wanted more of Jude. She grabbed his shirt and yanked him closer before sliding her tongue into his mouth.

  Jude growled in response. He slid his hands down her back and cupped her backside.

  She felt how hard he was. She wanted him, more than anything. A few little injuries would not stop her.

  Jude took a deep breath and pulled back from their kiss. “This is not resting.”

  “I have a new lease on life.” Octavia kissed his lips again.

  Jude grinned as he pulled her shirt up, sliding his hands across the bare skin of her back, always avoiding her laser burn.

  His touch brought her skin to life as he caressed her, wiping away the fear and pain she’d felt for so long.

  Jude made short work of the shirt’s buttons before easing it off her shoulders. “How’s the laser burn?” He placed lingering kisses on her collarbone before kneeling and unzipping her pants.

  “It’s healed.” Octavia’s core heated as he slid her pants down her legs and pulled off her boots. She wore no underwear. She stood in front of him, naked, as he kneeled before her.

  Desire filled Jude’s eyes as his hands slid up her calves, along her thighs, and around to her ass.

  “I should shower,” she said huskily.

  “Do that later.” Jude eased her back on the bed and kicked off his own boots. “Lie on your front so you don’t aggravate your injury.”

  Licking her lips, Octavia turned slowly onto her front, resting her undamaged cheek on the bed. Her pulse raced as she heard the zipper on Jude’s pants come down and his clothing drop to the floor.

  Desire made her shake as she felt his weight descend onto the bed.

  His hands ran up the muscles of her calves in a slow, firm motion. He massaged her tired flesh, his fingers heating her skin. He worked the aches and the kinks out before sliding his hands up her thighs, edging her legs open as he did so.

  Octavia couldn’t help but moan as Jude continued to work on her muscles.

  “Does it feel good?”

  “It feels incredible,” said Octavia. It had been such a long time since anyone had touched her in this way. She was so used to being roughly handled, or not being touched at all. She realized how long it had been since she’d felt desired and desirable. Her injuries had kept her hidden from everyone for fear of the disgust and rejection she’d experience. She’d hidden from finding love or seeking physical contact. Only now did Octavia realize what she’d been missing out on.

  Jude’s fingers slid higher up her thighs. She bit her bottom lip to stop another groan sliding from her lips.

  He gently pushed her legs wider apart. His fingers skimmed her wetness, and a growl escaped him.

  Octavia couldn’t help but grind against the bed, desire flooding through her as Jude’s hard fingers inched closer to her core.

  She gasped as she felt his bare flesh make contact with her back.

  “I’m trying to make you relax,” he whispered in her ear, a smile tracing through his words.

  “It’s having the opposite effect.”

  “Do you want me to stop?” His hands slid off her thighs and rested on the bed.

  “No!”

  Jude chuckled and massaged her buttocks and hips. “I promise you, when all of this is over, I will spend all my free time making you happy.”

  “Does that include naked massages?”

  “I’ll insist on it.” Jude’s fingers slid back to the top of her thighs and he brushed across her slick folds.

  She gasped again and pushed back against his hand, aching with desire, wanting to feel him inside her.

  His fingers moved away. He gave a deep, throaty chuckle. “Sorry to tease. You’re just so damn sexy. It’s hard to resist you.”

  “Then don’t resist.”

  “I promised Sophia I’d look after you,” said Jude. “That means you can’t do anything to exert yourself.”

  “How about I lie here and you do all the work? She’d think that was fine.”

  Another chuckle. “As tempting an offer as that is, when I fuck you for the first time, I want to make sure you don’t break. And I want to look you in the eyes as I come deep inside you.”

  Octavia felt a flood of heat run through her. “I won’t break. Why don’t we try now?” She didn’t care that she was practically begging Jude for sex. All she could think about was his hands on her flesh, igniting a fire inside her. She wanted to feel him, all of him.

  Jude’s hands shifted to her lower back and his fingers eased away the aches as they slid up her spine. “You don’t know how hard I’m resisting you. You’re so beautiful. You’re everything I imagined you would be and more.”

  Octavia’s passion faded. “I bet you didn’t imagine the scars and lack of hair.”

  “They only make you more interesting.” Jude kissed behind her ear before sliding his lips over her scalp.

  “That feels oddly sexy,” said Octavia. “Nobody has ever kissed my bare scalp before.”

  “If it turns you on, I’ll do it for as long as you like.” His fingers moved up to her shoulder blades, avoiding the laser burn.

  Octavia groaned as they creaked under the pressure. Days of tension and worry had collected in them. She felt a delicious mix of pleasure and pain as he massaged the kinks out.

  He worked on her shoulders for several minutes before his hands slid down her arms and he rubbed her arm muscles. Jude finally reached her fingers, sliding each one between his, gently working the tension away. He lifted each hand and kissed the palm before sliding his hands up to her shoulders again.

  Despite how turned on she was, Octavia felt her eyelids grow heavy. She wanted to fight it. She wanted to remember this forever. She didn’t want to miss the incredible feeling of Jude’s hands sliding over her, easing her pain and making her feel alive.

  “That’s so good,” she mumbled as a veil of sleep descended over her.

  The last thing she remembered was Jude’s lips against her ear. He was saying something, but she couldn’t hear him. She had lost the battle to sleep.

  Chapter 17

  Jude’s eyes flickered open, and he inhaled. He could smell hot spices in the air.

  Turning on his side, he found his small bed empty.

  He rolled off the bed and pulled on his pants, a grin spreading across his face when he saw Octavia standing naked in his kitchen, her back to him as she stirred something on the two-ring hob. That was something he could get used to seeing every morning.

  He walked over and wrapped his arms around her waist before pressing a kiss on her bare shoulder. The sight of her made him as hard as he’d been when he’d worked on her muscles.

  She glanced at him and grinned. “You shouldn’t have let me sleep so long. We missed the briefing.”

  “You needed it. Besides, if anything important had happened, we’d have been informed.” His fingers traced circles on her bare stomach.

  Octavia rested her head against his chest for a momen
t before grinding black pepper into the powdered egg scramble she was making. “I hope this will do. You don’t have much food in here.”

  “I only use this place for sleeping,” said Jude. “But whatever you’re doing, it smells amazing.”

  “Overcooked powdered egg will never be amazing.”

  He smiled as she finished seasoning the food. This felt like a normal day, a day he wanted to repeat a thousand times and never get bored of it. He could wake up and find his woman making them both breakfast. They’d eat, then go back to bed and lose themselves in each other’s arms for a few hours. They wouldn’t have to think about fighting the State, or staying alive, or whether they should risk going outside.

  “Do you have any plates?” asked Octavia.

  “I’ll get them.” Reluctantly, Jude unwrapped his arms from around Octavia’s waist. He pulled out two white plates and set them on the counter.

  A small smile played across Octavia’s face as she dished up the food.

  Jude felt the same tug of happiness. Maybe they could pretend nothing bad was happening on the outside. They could live together in glorious isolation, fucking, feeding each other, and pretending the State were nothing but a nightmare.

  He held on to the dream for a few seconds. It was his new favorite dream.

  Octavia passed him a plate before walking to the side of the bed and sliding into a shirt and pants.

  “I won’t object if you want to eat naked.” Jude sat on the edge of the bed, a plate in his hand.

  Octavia grinned as she sat next to him. “I think we both know where that will lead to if I do.”

  “Which isn’t a bad thing.” Jude tasted the powdered egg. “This is good.”

  She pressed a kiss to his cheek. “You can cook me breakfast next time.”

  “I’d be happy to cook for you.” He shoveled in more egg, his stomach growling with hunger.

  Octavia let out a quiet sigh. “I hate to spoil the mood, but we need to plan our next move against the State. And we need to know what happened in the briefing. Won’t Danni be angry we weren’t there?”

  “She knows we needed downtime. Despite how hard she tries, she’s not a monster. The others will be working on it.”

  “I still think we can make use of my networks,” said Octavia. “There are people out there hiding from the attention of the State. We can get them on board.”

  “That’s worth considering.” Jude felt reluctant to lose the happy space they were in, but knew they had to focus back on the State.

  “We can’t fail at this,” said Octavia. “A multi-pronged attack could be what we need to disable the State. We’re not the only ones fighting against them. There are small pockets of resistance growing everywhere.”

  Jude nodded as he took their empty plates to the counter. He walked back to Octavia and took hold of her hands.

  “The people I have links with trust me,” said Octavia. “They hear me every day. If I go on air and tell them what we’re planning, I know they’ll help.”

  Jude detected concern in Octavia’s voice. “There’s a problem?”

  “Not a problem exactly,” said Octavia. “My channel links are in my van. I didn’t bring them with me in my hurry to leave. I’ve keep the contact information off-line to protect people’s identities, just in case my system was ever hacked.”

  Jude twisted his mouth. The van wasn’t far from their base. “We could collect them. If Heath and Danni think your connections are of value, it will be worth the risk.”

  “They are,” said Octavia. “They’re good people. They won’t let us down.”

  “And we won’t let them down.” Jude cupped Octavia’s face in his hands and kissed her.

  The alert outside Jude’s door pinged.

  Pressing another quick kiss to Octavia’s lips, Jude walked over and opened the door.

  Heath nodded a greeting. His gaze drifted past Jude, and a smile tugged at his lips when he saw Octavia. “How are you both doing?”

  “The serum is doing its job,” said Jude. “I can barely feel my ribs.”

  Octavia joined him by the door and tucked an arm around his waist. “I’m also feeling better.”

  “That’s good to know,” said Heath. “Kade’s got everything he can from the message we recorded from the State.”

  “We’ve got a plan as well,” said Octavia. “I’ve got contacts on the outside. We can use them to spread a warning about this vaccine. We can stop the State before they get any of it out.”

  Heath nodded. “That’s just what we need. Can they be relied upon?”

  “I trust them completely,” said Octavia.

  “According to the messages we’ve decoded, the State have been running trials of this vaccine in isolated communities.”

  Jude scowled. “Checking how effective it is without raising alarm among everyone else.”

  “That’s what we’re thinking,” said Heath. “The mass rollout of the vaccine happens in forty-eight hours, so we’ll need all the help we can get.”

  “My contacts will help,” said Octavia.

  “We’re leaving the base in an hour,” said Heath.

  “So soon?” A stricken look crossed Octavia’s face.

  “What’s the problem?”

  “We need to get to Octavia’s van to access the contact information,” said Jude.

  “Can you get to your van and back in that time?” asked Heath.

  Jude shook his head. “We’ll be cutting it fine. And Octavia is still recovering. She’s not fit to be on this mission.”

  “I am.”

  “No. You said you’d help from here. I don’t want you in danger.”

  She tilted her head. “Things change. I need to help you. And I feel so much better. I can do this.”

  From the stubborn look in her eyes, Jude knew he wouldn’t win this argument. When they had the time, he was going to get Octavia to understand the meaning of downtime.

  “We can coordinate when we’re on the road,” said Octavia. “If we go to the van now, I’ll contact everyone and let them know what’s going on.”

  “In the meantime, we’ll head to the vaccine site and shut it down,” said Heath. “You meet us there.”

  Jude shoved down his concern about taking Octavia into this. She was made of strong stuff; she’d proven that already.

  Octavia looked up at him. “It’s time to go.”

  IT WAS ALREADY LATE evening when Octavia and Jude headed out of the bunker.

  Jude rode a low-slung, hydrogen-powered bike. She was on the back, her arms wrapped around his waist.

  Octavia hoped no one had discovered the van and destroyed it. She was attached to that hunk of junk. Even though it was no longer any use to her, she didn’t like to think of anyone mistreating it.

  She pressed her cheek against Jude’s back. Thoughts of their sleepover filled her head. Jude was amazing. She’d never met anyone like him. There was no point in denying it; she’d fallen for him. She wanted this man in her life forever. There was no way she was going to let him go.

  Jude raced through the night, the roads their usual eerie quiet with the State curfew in place. “It’s not far now.” The quiet hum of the bike’s engine made it easy to talk.

  In response, Octavia tightened her grip, enjoying the feel of his hard muscles beneath her fingers.

  The bike slowed. Octavia leaned around Jude, recognizing the road where they hid the van.

  Stopping the bike, Jude slid off. “This is the place.” He pulled a receiver from his pocket and hit the button.

  Octavia smiled as her old, rusty van revealed itself. It was just as she had left it; dented, filthy, but intact.

  “We’ll store the bike inside the van.” Jude wheeled the bike closer. “We don’t want any drones getting nosy when they spot it parked on the side of the road.”

  “No problem. It will fit.” She helped him lift the bike into the van before stepping inside and taking a deep breath.

  It already felt musty
and damp. Hell, how had she survived so long in this rusty hunk of tin? Octavia pulled out a stool and sat down. She tested the radio and was relieved to find it still operational.

  “I’ll get to work on messaging my contacts.”

  Jude looked around the inside of the van. “Is there anything you need me to do?”

  “Set up the transmitter signal jammer. It will make it harder for the State to pinpoint our location.”

  “Will do.” Jude eased past, his fingers brushing the back of her neck as he did so, and switched on more equipment.

  Octavia stroked the tatty bit of plywood she used as a desk. “Is there any chance you could get this thing moving? Maybe we can get it back to the bunker?”

  He flashed her a smile. “What do you think is in the bag I brought? I know you’re attached to this old thing. I figured, while we’re here, I can take a look and see if I can get this back on the road.”

  Octavia wrapped a hand around his neck and drew him down for a kiss. “Thank you.”

  “Anything to make you happy.” Jude turned toward the controls and focused on getting the signal jam in place.

  Octavia activated a secure message and opened her encrypted list of supporters. Her fingers flew over the keyboard. This is a red warning message. The State are planning a worldwide mandatory vaccination program. This vaccine is not safe. It will remove members of the population the State no longer believe are valuable. If you know of any local vaccine sites, I ask you to let me know. I am also looking for volunteers to help destroy the vaccine plant. All offers of help will be appreciated.

  She sat back in her seat and read the message a couple of times. It would have to do. They were short on time. Lincoln was already heading to the vaccine plant to assess its security before the rest of them moved in.

  Octavia keyed in the coordinates of the vaccine plant, hit send on the message, and let out a sigh.

  “Is everything good?” asked Jude.

  “As good as it’s going to get.”

  “The signal jam is in place,” said Jude. “The State will have no idea where we are. I’ll check the engine and see if we can get this thing moving.”