He shrugged. “It felt like one to me. The bed shook so hard I almost fell off.”
Jess opened her mouth, then closed it again. If she told him she’d done it, he’d think she was nuts. Yet as she’d jolted awake, she’d felt something rush out of her in a burning flood of energy.
No, it must have been a nightmare. Only . . . “What about Charlotte?”
Galar shot her a look as he picked up the sword and put it back in its place on the shelf. “You think she really is Xer? Jessica, it was just a dream.”
“But it seemed so real. I’ve never had one that vivid, and I’ve had some pretty vivid dreams.”
“Charlotte isn’t Xer, Jess.” Shaking his head, he bent to pick up a fallen trid globe. “I scanned her. She was as human as you are.”
“Sensors can be fooled.” Or so said her EDI, anyway.
“Not really. You can shield against them, but then they won’t pick up anything at all. Charlotte read as completely human. If she’d been shielding, I’d have known it.”
She frowned. “I thought Xerans were human.”
“They came from human root stock, yes, but that was before a couple of hundred years of genetic tinkering. There are significant differences now.” He stepped closer to rest a comforting hand on her shoulder. “You had a nightmare, Jess. That’s all it was.”
God, she thought grimly, I hope you’re right. Because if you’re not, something really scary is going on.
Jess watched her opponent brandish his knife, a sneer of menace on his face. Muscle rippled up and down his powerful bare chest as he moved.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Galar lowered the knife and sighed. “Jess, that EDI combat file won’t do you any good if you don’t practice.”
“I don’t see how it would do me any good at all against a Xeran battleborg.”
He glowered. “Now there’s an attitude just guaranteed to get you killed. May I remind you that you torched his ass the last time you fought him?”
She snorted. “The last time I fought him, he gutted me.”
“Yeah, but you fought him off just long enough for us to get to you.” Galar gestured with the knife. “That’s the whole point of this little exercise. You’re right—one-on-one in any extended fight, he’d kill you. That means your job is to make sure you don’t get in an extended fight with him. You get the fuck away and give us a chance to save you.”
“When am I ever alone long enough for him to get to me?”
Galar shrugged those brawny, distracting shoulders. “If he kills me, you will be alone.”
Jess stared at him, her eyes going wide as her stomach twisted. “What?”
His steady, calm gaze didn’t even falter. “You’ve got to be ready for any eventuality, Jess.”
“I don’t want you to die for me, Galar.”
“I’m not particularly thrilled about the idea either.” He took a step closer, his stare going narrow and fierce. Demanding. “But if I do end up dead, I don’t want it to be for nothing. Do not let him kill you. Remember—the Outpost computer will hear you if you yell. You don’t even have to dial 911. Just scream for help, and every Enforcer in this facility will be here within two minutes. But you have to stay alive for those two minutes.”
She swallowed. “But what about you?”
Galar shrugged. “With regen, there’s a good chance they can help me, if they can get to me in time.”
Jess straightened her shoulders and sighed. “All right. What do I need to do?”
“Run like hell the minute he shows up.”
“I thought I was supposed to fight.”
“Not if you can help it. If Marcin Jumps into the Outpost, I’m going to engage him.” His mouth pulled into a grim, hard line. “You run. Don’t argue, don’t stop to watch or help, just get as far away as possible.”
“You want me to leave you?”
“You bet your luscious little ass. If you’re not in the line of fire, I don’t have to worry about keeping you alive. Besides, every Enforcer in the Outpost will be on the way.” He smiled slightly. “I don’t want you hanging around distracting them from saving my life.”
Jess still didn’t like the idea of abandoning him, but she had to admit he had a point. “Run like hell. Got it.”
“Put barriers between him and you,” Galar continued. “He’s faster than you are, so you need to give him an obstacle course to deal with. Close doors, throw furniture in his path. Slow him down however you can.”
“What do I do if he catches me?”
He grinned. “Get away.”
“No shit. Got any suggestions as to how I do that?”
“He’s going to expect you to fight like a human civilian— timidly and ineffectively.” Galar balled a fist and bared his teeth. “You have to do the opposite. When you hit him, give it everything you’ve got. Try to drive your fist through his skull.” He pumped out a punch, demonstrating.
Jess snorted. “Do I look like a Warfem to you?”
“How much force you can actually generate is beside the point. Even if all you do is startle him, that could be the two seconds you need to get away and stay alive.” He gave her a come-on gesture with his fingers. “Hit me.”
This is a waste of time. She knew better than to say so, though. Biting her lip, Jess wound up and drove her fist right at his bare stomach.
9
The impact jolted all the way up her shoulder as if she’d driven her fist into a concrete block. “Ow!” She shook her stinging hand and blinked tears out of her eyes.
“Not like that.” He hadn’t even rocked back on his heels, she saw resentfully.
Sliding the knife into the sheath at his waist, Galar turned so he stood in profile to her. “You need to drive from your hips so you’re putting your entire body behind the punch, not just the muscles of your arm.” His slight sneer told her just what he thought of the muscles in question. He slid his right leg back, cocked his right arm, and threw it forward, twisting his hips to add torque as he did.
Jess was suddenly very glad she was not on the other end of that fist.
“Now you try it.” He moved around behind her and put his hands on her hips. “Everything comes from here. Step your right foot back.”
Jess obeyed, feeling more than a little awkward—and entirely too aware of his presence at her back. She threw a punch. “Well, that sucked.” She grimaced at its lack of force.
“Try again,” Galar said patiently, no hint of frustration in his voice.
Jess gritted her teeth and set herself, determined to get it right this time. She gave it everything she had—and damn near fell on her face.
To give him credit, Galar didn’t even sigh. “Better, but you need to watch your balance. Let me see your fist. No, not like that. You’ll break every bone in your hand.” He unwrapped her fingers and showed her how to make a proper fist.
“This brings to mind one of my grandmother’s favorite sayings,” Jess told him drily. “ ‘Never try to teach a pig to sing. You’ll frustrate yourself and annoy the pig.’”
“The pig’s life doesn’t depend on her ability to belt out an aria.” He frowned. “I don’t understand this. Chogan gave you a combat EDI, but you don’t seem to be accessing it at all.”
She grimaced. “I noticed.”
Galar rubbed his jaw, contemplating her. “You’re over-thinking this. It’s like with the basic knowledge file. When did it quit swamping you?”
Jess cocked her head, considering. “When I stopped fighting it.”
“I think you’re doing the same thing with the combat EDI. If we can get you to start reacting automatically, it will come.”
And with no more warning than that, he swung a round-house right at her head.
Jess’s right arm jerked up, knocking his wrist upward even as she stepped back, pivoting neatly away. She stopped and blinked at him in astonishment. “I did it.”
Galar gave her a satisfied grin. “You certainly did.”
/>
“Damn good thing, or you would have taken off my head.”
He snorted. “Please. I’m a Warlord. I’ve never thrown a punch I wasn’t in total control of.”
“Must be nice,” she grumbled.
“Let’s try that again.” His eyes narrowed in a calculating expression.
It was one Jess quickly learned to dread. He gave her no quarter whatsoever, stalking her like a tiger, throwing punches and kicks at what she would have sworn was full speed. Luckily, he wasn’t kidding about his control. Even when she missed a block, he never hit her. And at first, she missed a lot of blocks.
But he was right. The rain of attacks gave her no time to think, forced her into pure reaction, leaving her sweating and breathing hard, heart pounding.
“Galar,” she panted at last. “That’s enough. I need a break.”
He peeled his lips back from his teeth and flashed the knife he’d drawn as she’d gotten better. “Marcin won’t give you any breaks, Jess.”
Anger slid through her, quick and hot. She’d been giving him all she had. Her muscles felt like cooked spaghetti, and she ached all the way to the bone. She was tired, dammit. And anyway, if he was right, no fight with the Xeran would run more than a few seconds anyway. Either she’d get away, or she’d die.
“We’ve got a word for guys like you,” she gasped. “Asshole!”
“Less talking, more fighting.” He swung the knife.
Furious now, Jess took one step forward, swung up her left arm to block his attack, and powered her right fist right into his mouth.
Galar’s head snapped back from the force of her punch.
Jessica’s instant of triumph became horror as Galar lifted his fingers and wiped blood off his mouth. She’d split his lower lip. “Oh, hell, I’m sorry!”
He grinned at her, a smear of crimson across his teeth. “Now that was what I was waiting for. I knew if I pushed you hard enough, you’d cut loose.”
“You wanted me to hit you?” Then she scrubbed a hand over her face as realization hit. “Of course you did—that was the point.”
He nodded. “Even after I got you to start using your EDI, you’ve been totally on the defensive. And that’s not the way to win a fight against a Xeran. That’s not even the way to survive a fight with a Xeran. It’s going to take aggression and ferocity to stay alive against that son of a bitch.”
“Point taken.” She ran both hands through her hair and grimaced. It was as wet as though she’d just stepped out of a shower. “I probably smell like a goat.”
“Nah, just a slightly sweaty female.” He dropped a big hand on her shoulder. “Let’s clean you up.”
Jess moaned in gratitude. “Oh, God, yes.”
Ivar had long since perfected the art of watching and listening without appearing to pay any attention at all. That talent was one of the many things, along with his sociopath’s ability to blend, that had made him such a successful spy.
So the entire time Galar had been giving Jess her combat lesson, he’d been working with a gravity bar in a corner of the gym. He’d had the bar on its highest weight setting, but such was his cyborg strength that he could leap and spin and jab with it with only half his mind on what he was doing. The rest was entirely focused on Galar and the primitive.
It had been blind luck that had brought him to the gym at this particular moment. But then, luck was another key ingredient of his success.
Not that he’d need much luck to kill Jessica. Her combat skills were laughable at best. He’d learned that just by watching her. It would be as simple as getting her alone for five seconds and snapping her delicate little neck.
The trick would be not getting caught. The Outpost’s security system was formidable. The moment he tried to launch an attack, its sensors would detect his aggressive intent, and it would summon the other Enforcers. His cover would be blown, assuming he even survived.
Though imagining Galar’s reaction to finding the little bitch dead, he was seriously tempted anyway. Somehow she’d gotten under the Ice Lord’s skin, something Ivar had always assumed impossible. Galar didn’t even seem to be putting up a fight against her assault on his heart.
Yes, killing the primitive would be delicious. Especially if he got to watch Galar’s reaction afterward. He just had to make sure he didn’t get caught.
Ivar’s eyes narrowed as he began to pump out another set of repetitions with the weight bar. He had a kernel of a plan, but it would need more development.
First he’d need to hack into the Outpost’s security system, which would be tricky. He was confident he could eventually pull it off, though. Ivar had never encountered a system he couldn’t penetrate if he put his mind to it.
Which meant the primitive was as good as dead.
Galar led her down a hallway lined with doors. Jess followed mechanically on legs that shook slightly with sheer exhaustion. “And I thought I was in good shape.” She groaned. “I hit the gym three times a week!”
Golden eyes cut in her direction, but Galar kindly did not express his opinion of her workout schedule. Instead he said only, “It doesn’t matter how fit you are. Combat is a whole different magnitude of effort, since it’s as much mental and emotional as physical.” He swung open one of the doors and led the way inside.
Into an oasis.
Jess stopped on the threshold to stare. There were no walls or ceiling, just a rain forest of bright jungle green. An oval pool lay in the center of a cluster of colorful lilies and feathery emerald ferns. A semicircle of trees curved around the pool, shading the bubbling water with a canopy of leaves. A scarlet macaw eyed her from one limb, its glorious feathers bright as Christmas decorations.
The illusion was perfect, but it was definitely an illusion. The floor under her feet was hard and smooth, not soft jungle loam. “Damn, Galar, how did you do this?”
He shrugged and reached for the waistband of his black snugs. “Same basic technology as the imagizers we use for trids and camouflage.” Before she could absorb that idea, he was stripping the pants down his long, beautifully muscled thighs.
Jess blinked at the sight of his bare ass, and suddenly felt a lot less exhausted. “Uh, what if somebody comes in?”
Galar stepped out of the snugs, gloriously naked. “I’ve told the comp we want privacy. It won’t open the door for anybody else.” He gave her a slow, predatory smile. “We don’t have to worry about being interrupted.”
“Oh.” She swallowed, her gaze on his cock. It was rising into a truly impressive erection. “Isn’t that convenient.”
“Very.” He lifted a blond brow. “Aren’t you overdressed?”
Jess dragged her eyes away from Galar’s impressive shaft. “Apparently.”
But as she started tugging down her own skintight snugs, the muscles of her arms and thighs twinged painfully. She flinched. “Owww! Dammit, I’m sore!”
“We’d better get you in that water, or you won’t be able to move tomorrow.” Galar frowned. To her disappointment, she saw his erection dip. “In fact, I think you need a massage. ”
Jess watched his cock sink regretfully. “So do I, but I don’t think I’m going to get the one I’ve got in mind.”
His frown transformed into a rakish grin. “Never underestimate a Warlord, love. We can always rise to any occasion.”
She groaned at the pun and took the hand he extended to help her into the pool. The heat of the bubbling water was enough to make her start sweating as her feet found the steps that led down into the big marble tub. A surprisingly soft padded bench ran around its outer wall, and she settled onto it with a sigh, sinking to her shoulders in steaming bubbles.
“Scoot forward,” Galar told her. She obeyed, and he slid off the lip of the pool onto the bench behind her, legs spread on either side of her hips. She turned her head to watch him pour a bright blue liquid from a bulb container into his palm.
“Uetian herbal oil,” he explained, rubbing his hands together. “Nothing’s better for sore muscles.
”
His palms, strong and warm, found her shoulders. Jess closed her eyes and purred as his long fingers dug in, discovering every knot in her muscles with unerring accuracy. She let her head fall forward. Broad thumbs circled a particularly nasty spot, massaging it skillfully until it melted away.
Damn, this is better than sex. Then she grinned, remembering just how good Galar’s lovemaking was. Well, almost.
The skin of Jessica’s shoulders felt fine-grained under his hands, hot and slick from the combination of the oil and the water. Looking over her shoulder, Galar watched her pretty breasts bob, flushed pink by the heat. He badly wanted to taste those rosy nipples, but he was a patient man, and she needed the massage.
She’d earned it, too. Galar smiled, remembering her fierce concentration as she’d fought to block his attacks. To a man who’d spent his life fighting alongside cyborgs and Warfems, she’d looked more than a little clumsy.
He wasn’t sure why he’d found that so endearing.
Maybe it had been her fierce determination. Jess kept pushing, kept trying even when she was all but staggering with fatigue. Pissing her off enough to make her swing at him had taken a surprising amount of work. She’d been so intent on getting it right, no matter how deliberately unreasonable his demands. She might not be a product of genetic engineering or some warrior culture, but she was a fighter all the way to the bone.
No wonder he couldn’t resist her.
Galar rubbed circles in the center of her palm with his thumb, then began to work his way up the length of each long, tapered finger. He’d already massaged her back and arms so thoroughly, she lay completely relaxed against him, almost dozing.
“Mmmm,” Jess whispered. “That feels so good.” She gave a sensual little wiggle.
He smiled. “I was beginning to think you’d gone to sleep.”
Jess turned her head to give him a wicked smile. “Not with that hard-on of yours pressing against my butt.”
He lowered his head to give her ear a gentle nibble. She shivered deliciously. “Should I apologize for keeping you awake?”
“Only if you don’t intend to live up to my expectations.”
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