by Viola Grace
Manipulation through physical contact was new to her, but Martuas let her experiment on all of his exposed skin and she had gotten quite a few direct reactions when he had sworn he could not manage another round.
Mala needed to be reassured, so that is what Tricia put into the touch.
"They put my armour into the storage area. Come this way." Tricia was wearing a jumpsuit that Stellar Storm volunteered when Nich and Andra had had dinner in their quarters the night before. Tricia was already done with her heat, but Martuas had taken the whole week off, so she had been at his disposal. She had insisted on meeting more of the local Guardsmen and he had insisted it be in their quarters. Dinner in the front room had been the compromise.
Mala looked around her curiously.
"The ratio is ten to one, men to women. Freaky, I know." Tricia waved at a few of the men she remembered meeting and in a few minutes, she and Mala were facing the wreckage of her armour.
"Holy stars! How did you survive that?"
"The initial impact was just a crushing force. I still have no idea how I got the puncture in my side. The rest of the damage was made when they tried to pry me out of it."
Mala was circling the suit. "You were struck from behind as an initial blow."
"Yup. Knocked me to my knees."
"It blew out the releases right then and there. The crushing force just locked it up." Mala stretched and flexed her fingers. "I can fix this."
"I will get you some sandwiches."
Mala wasn"t listening, Fixer was touching and caressing metal and it was answering her call.
Tricia was halfway down the hall when hands pressed her up against the wall and lips came down to claim hers. Martuas" taste and feel filled her mouth and warmed her soul.
When she whimpered and tightened her fingers in his hair, he pulled back and she was looking into blood-red eyes flaring with lust. "It has been less than an hour."
"And I missed you already, loshia." That he had taken to calling her by the name of the flower that had been crushed between their bodies that first time caused her belly to shimmy in a strange and exciting way.
"I have to feed Fixer. She is working on my armour so that it will be impervious to the same kind of damage if I am ever dumb enough to watch a mech fall on me again."
He sighed and leaned down, pressing his ridged forehead to hers. "I don"t like the thought of you in danger again."
"Then you have to let me help Fixer and the suit will keep me from that danger. If you want to mitigate your worry, help me gather sandwiches for the voracious eating machine."
He wasn"t happy, but he came with her to the commissary where Shade was having a snack with Nich. She waved at both of them and turned to the staff behind the counter. "Fixer is visiting today. I need a lot of food that can sit out for a while. Also, some thermoses with hot and cold liquids and cups."
Grinning, they got to work.
"Kahlia has the same problem. She releases her atoms to control technology and she always needs to eat a ton." One of the staffers prepped a cart with everything she had listed and several covered dishes.
Whistling to herself, she left the trio of men, winked at Martuas and continued down the hall to Mala. Apparently, a conversation with the boys was more interesting than watching Fixer stuff her face.
Fixer had the suit lying on the ground in an almost-funereal pose. Pax walked up to her with a platter and held the sandwiches for her to eat as she worked.
Hours passed with the armour slowly coming back to its former shape with some streamlining. They worked together, one feeding and one shaping metal, but both with intense interest in the final product.
"Try it on." Mala"s eyes were a little glazed but she was triumphant.
Eager to be back in the suit, she stepped into it and noted that the legs seemed more spring-loaded than she remembered. Lifting the hips of the suit into place was an easy, smooth action as the back plate pulled straight and locked so that she could put her hands into the gauntlets and then the rest of the suit closed around her without her making a move.
"Run around with it a little."
She ran around the repair bay, flipping and stretching as far as she could.
Fixer had pulled a chair up and was finishing up the contents of the cart.
Tricia stopped in front of the talent and opened the suit with a thought. "That"s wonderful. What did you do?"
"Deflector plates, coolant, emergency escapes, increased the propulsion on the flight gear. Guardian mentioned you tried a take-off and couldn"t get up with a passenger. So, one person should be fine now."
A shadow on the ground stretched and walked forward, putting an arm around his wife.
Mala yawned. "We have to be getting home, but now that you are not contagious anymore, ask Nich for an Udell Masuo uniform. It will be tougher than almost anything I can make as well as being sensitive to your personal biology."
Fixer was limp and exhausted, but Shade took it in stride. "She"s proud of herself. Thanks for keeping an eye on her, Pax."
"I appreciate the new armour. I am amazed that she could recover so much of it as well as increase the molecular density for deflection."
"She amazes me every day." Shade lifted his wife and she looped an arm around his neck. He carried her out of the room and Pax was left alone.
Shrugging, she cleaned up the dishes and pushed the cart back to the commissary. Nich and Martuas were still talking with their heads close together.
She gave the cart back to the staff with profuse thanks and turned to her partner and the avatar of Udell. "Hello, Nich."
"Good evening, Tricia."
"Fixer just suggested that I request Udell Masuo from you. May I have Udell Masuo, please?"
Nich grinned and Udell leeched into his eyes. "Of course, dear Pax. We will have it brought in within the week."
"Thank you very much. I think I may do some foolish things that require a sturdy substance between me and disaster."
Nich-Udell laughed. "Peace sometimes requires extraordinary measures. I believe you are an excellent dignitary to promote and enforce peace when necessary."
"I will take that as a compliment."
"I hate to agree with him, but Nich is right. You are an excellent guardsman and will have an expansive career."
She looked at him in surprise. "Why, Martuas, I didn"t expect you to be so keen on my return to action."
His look was grim, but he spoke with conviction. "You will return to action and I will be on your ass, guarding you every step of the way. Now that you are mine, no one will have the opportunity to take you from me again."
* * * *
Nich was starting to laugh until he saw the intense look passing between the two. He had no doubt that Guardian was going to spend every last moment of his life doing what he loved, guarding Pax.
Author"s Note
Whew. Book 15 already. It seems I cannot get enough of Fixer. Mala was my first guardsman and she will always be my favourite.
In book 16, Past Tense, we return to Teklan, the investigation base. Our main character is a psychometrist whose talent consists of seeing what has happened to one specific object. This is handy when a series of assassinations has been carried out and no one has an idea of the cause of death.
Past Tense…coming soon to Devine Destinies
Viola Grace [email protected]
http://www.violagrace.com
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About the Author
Viola Grace was born in Manitoba, Canada where she still resides today. She really likes it there.
She has no pets and can barely keep sea monkeys alive for a reasonable amount of time.
In keeping with busy hands are happy hands, her hobbies have included cross-stitch, needlepoint, quilting, costuming, cake decorating, baking, cooking, metal work, beading, sculpting, painting, doll making, henna tattoos, chain mail, and a few others that have been forgotten
. It is quite often that these hobbies make their way into her tales.
Viola"s fetishes include boots and corsetry, and her greatest weakness is her uncontrollable blush.
Her writing actively pursues the Happily Ever After that so rarely occurs in nature. It is an admirable thing and something that we should all strive for. To find one that we truly like, as well as love.