Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Other books by Debbie Cassidy
About the Author
Copyright © 2019, Debbie Cassidy
All Rights Reserved
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, duplicated, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior written consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
1
Marick
My boots echo on the polished floor as I’m led to the inquisitor’s private chambers. My hands are shackled. My clothes are rumpled from lying on a narrow cot all night, and my head is fuzzy from lack of sleep. That bitch, Rogue. This is all that bitch’s fault.
I was so close to having the status and power I’d been working for. The right House, the ear of the most powerful Trad on Vesper V, and then she had to escape.
The guards stop outside the huge oak door to the inquisitor’s chambers, and one of them knocks sharply. There is silence, and then the door is opened by a slender Trad male with a pinched face and bulbous eyes—the record keeper.
“Please enter,” he says in a nasal voice. The guards practically shove me into the room, and then the opulence closes in on me, wooden shelves and books and the distinct smell of venerian leather. The inquisitor is seated behind his intimidating desk, and another man sits in an armchair to the right. He looks familiar, but the inquisitor is speaking, and I’m forced to pull my gaze away from the stranger.
“This is a closed hearing, to determine the events of lunar day 6, month 8. Tradacyh year 43001.”
The record keeper taps away on his tiny tablet, noting the words coming out of the inquisitor’s mouth.
“Marick Vantor, you’re accused of treason to your House.”
This can’t be happening. Treason? I thought this was about the discharge of weapons in the mining shaft.
“Do you understand the charges?”
I nod and then shake my head.
The inquisitor smiles. “Let’s start at the end, shall we. You discharged your firearm in the mine shaft.”
“Yes, inquisitor.”
“And you fired at the human female?”
I stand tall, my hands behind my back as I answer the inquisitor’s questions. “Yes, sir. She was attempting to escape.”
“So, was your aim to maim or kill?”
“I was merely aiming to incapacitate her.”
The inquisitor arches a brow. “Reports say you aimed for a head shot.”
“Reports are incorrect.”
“And you’re telling me the truth?”
“Yes, sir.”
My gaze flicks to the man sitting in the armchair. He is silent and watchful, with an aura that commands respect, but the inquisitor hasn’t introduced him, and it would be rude to ask.
“Marick Vantor, you were the manager of House Ryker, and then you suddenly switched allegiance to House Zantar. But before you switched, you picked a team that was less than optimal for a fight between your soon-to-be old house and your new one. Is that correct?”
He isn’t wrong, but there is no way I will admit that. “I picked the team I felt would fight hardest.”
The man beside the inquisitor fixes his pale blue eyes on me, and suddenly I know who he is. I have seen pictures of this man. Conrad Hummer, the head of the acquisitions department on Tradacyh, the man who pioneered the fertility program. What is he doing here?
But the inquisitor is speaking again. “This looks bad for you, Marick.” He sits back in his seat and drums his fingers on the desk in front of him. “In fact, this looks an awful lot like you manipulated events to hurt the human female and to ensure that House Ryker would lose the match. It looks like you had a personal vendetta against the human, and her escape is on your head.”
“But—”
“I did not ask a question,” he snaps. Then his thin lips curl in a smile. “However, there is a way for you to avoid a prison sentence for your duplicitous actions. To avoid the consequences of treason to your House.”
The closed hearing makes sense now. They want something from me, and I’ll give them whatever they need to save my neck.
Conrad leans forward in his seat and fixes those eerie eyes on me. “Bring Rogue back alive.”
2
Space stared back at me from beyond the dome of the observatory, and the miasma of colors soothed my nerves as I lay beneath them. This was my go-to place when I began to feel antsy. Being stuck on a spaceship with four impossibly sexy males was beginning to grate on my senses the last few days, which indicated that my heat cycle was almost upon me.
Three weeks we’d cohabitated. Three weeks of getting to know Lore and Tide—the Athion crew of the ship. Not that I’d made that much of an effort with Lore. He preferred his chemicals and his lab to anything else. What he did in there was a mystery, but Tide made the effort to join us for meals and downtime.
There was a tiny rec room with cards and two Athion board games, one that reminded me of hockey but was played on a wooden board with a hand-held beater and a puck, and the other involved getting your counters to the finish box before your opponents. Other than that, we talked.
A lot of talking.
For example, I knew Xavier was an only child, while Tide was the eldest of five boys, and Lore had an older brother. I knew now that the guys lived together when they were on Athion.
“It’s just easier,” Xavier had explained. “We travel so much that keeping three separate homes is expensive, so we rent a house together and have someone go in once a week to dust and check up on it.”
It made sense. It also illustrated how close they were. Tide and Lore even finished each other’s sentences on the odd occasion Lore deigned to join us.
I got the impression Lore didn’t like me, not that I cared.
And Vex …
Well, Vex was my kryptonite. My drug. I needed to know more about him. I needed to be close to him because the damned Trad was in my heart. But he kept his distance. Ever since the fever, he hadn’t shared a room with me. Hadn’t brought up the fact that he’d told me how much he wanted me. He acted as if there was nothing between us, but the odd time I caught him looking at me, there was more than a little carnal heat in his eyes. He reined it in, though, shutting down. I wasn’t one to chase a guy, though. If he wanted to pretend nothing had happened between us, then fine.
It still stung to be rejected, but I couldn’t force him to feel what I was feeling. Thank goodness Xavier hadn’t given me a moment’s peace to dwell on the Vex issue. The Athion spent every spare moment in my orbit. He’d become my anchor on the ship, and although there was no official training room, he’d made spa
ce in one of the large, empty cabins and turned it into a sparring room. We sparred once a day, and it helped blow off steam. It also gave us an excuse to touch each other—to press up close and tussle.
Yeah, there was a definite attraction to Xavier too, and I couldn’t even blame it on the heat cycle making its way back around, because the attraction had been there last week too, and possibly the week before that.
Things were getting emotionally complicated.
The door to the observatory opened.
“I thought I’d find you here,” Xavier said.
I looked up as he ambled across the room in his easy gait. He was long-limbed, lithe, and powerful. His indigo skin gleamed all colors as the miasma reflected off him, turning him into a delectable rainbow.
He lowered his body beside me. “Fancy some company?”
“Would you really just leave if I said no?”
He stretched out on his back with his arms behind his head. “Probably not.”
His body heat pressed against me, and I nestled into his chest. “What are the others up to?”
“Lore is being a nerd as usual, and Tide is on the bridge checking that we’re still on course for Athion and that there aren’t any nasty surprises on the horizon.”
“How long now?”
“Four days, and we’ll be approaching the planet.”
My chest tightened.
“Are you okay?” Xavier’s breath ruffled the hair at my crown.
“No. I’m nervous. None of you have explained exactly what will happen when we get to your planet. I don’t like not knowing the score.”
He was silent for a long beat, and then he shifted to place his arm around me. “I won’t let anything bad happen to you, I promise.”
There was no teasing in his tone, and a spike of unease lanced through me. I turned my head to look up into his chiseled, hawkish face and was trapped in his pale blue eyes.
“Xavier? What the hell is that supposed to mean?” I pushed up on my elbow. “People only say that shit when there’s a possibility of something bad happening.”
His eyes darkened. He reached up to caress my bottom lip with his thumb, and I lost my train of thought. We’d sparred several times, we’d been up close and personal on more occasions than I could count, but he hadn’t touched me like that since the asteroid when he’d helped me find release in the pool.
Heat trickled through my veins as he leaned in and our breath mingled, warm and tantalizing. Our mouths brushed, our tongues flicked out to taste each other, then we were sinking into a deep, satisfying kiss that dispelled all thought.
He rolled onto me, his hands combing through my hair, his mouth slanting across mine as he devoured me with unrestrained passion. I arched into him, hands skimming up his sides, reveling in the taut muscles below the tight shirt he was wearing. His hair was silk between my fingers, and his tongue was long, thick, and sweet in my mouth. Fuck Athions and their clever tongues. What would it feel like down there? Oh God, now I was pulsing with an eagerness to find out.
The kiss slowed and then softened until we were pecking at each other’s lips—teasing and gentle as we came up for gasps of air.
He leaned back, his breath erratic and his eyes bright. “I’d like to try that again soon. Maybe on a bed?”
My core heated at the thought of him in my bed, naked and inside me. What was wrong with me? I’d fallen for Vex. How could I have feelings for Xavier too? Is this what women who went to Athion experienced—this confusion at loving more than one male? Not that I’d ever have to worry about that. My infertility made me ineligible for such a path, and now the thoughts I’d been holding at bay surged to the surface.
Xavier would find someone fertile. He’d want kids. This, whatever it was, was fleeting, and it made my stomach hurt. What was I doing?
I pulled away and sat up. “I should go.”
He frowned. “Rogue?”
I swallowed hard and looked him straight in the eyes. “Look, Xavier. We should stay in the friend zone. It’s better that way, for both of us. You’re going to find a human female who’s fertile, probably to share with Tide and Lore. I’m going to be shipped back to Earth. I don’t … I don’t …”
“Want to care about me?” he said softly.
I closed my eyes and blew out a breath, offering him a small smile. “It’s too late for that. But I need to protect my heart.”
“Does this go for Vex too?” There was an edge to his voice.
My heart ached. Vex’s distance made sense now. “I think Vex had this figured out weeks ago.”
Xavier sat up and stared at me, his gaze unfathomable. “You care about us both, don’t you?”
I more than cared.
“Rogue, look at me.”
Tears pricked my vision as I raised my eyes to his. I ran a hand over my face to dispel the weakness.
He sucked in a breath and reached for me, but I shied away and was on my feet and headed out of the observatory before he could stop me.
I needed to get off the ship and back to Earth. I needed to be away from them, to heal my heart, and it was only when I was halfway to my cabin that it hit me.
He hadn’t answered my question about Athion.
Instead, he’d deflected.
* * *
Lore was a cold bastard, but he was good for rediscovering emotional equilibrium. He exuded calm and order, the two things I needed right now. I found him in his lab, peering into a microscope. The muscles across his back tensed as I entered the room.
“What do you want, Rogue?” he asked tersely.
I leaned against the counter beside him. “Are you playing with my blood cells again?”
“I’m testing them, yes.”
“What kind of tests?”
“Ones you wouldn’t understand.”
Okay, now that was just patronizing. “You’re not the only one with brains, Lore. I have a degree. Two, actually. I am capable of learning and grasping new concepts.” My tone was frosty.
How dare he insult my intelligence. Fuck this. I made to leave.
“I’m sorry.”
I paused in the doorway. An apology from Lore? Wow.
I looked over my shoulder with a raised brow. “Did you just say sorry?”
He’d abandoned the microscope and was watching me with his golden eyes. They stood out against his robin egg-blue skin beautifully. He raked a hand through his chestnut locks. “Yes, Rogue,” he bit out. “I can get condescending when I’m deep in my work, or so I’ve been told.”
“Xavier?”
“No, Tide, actually.”
“You two are close.”
“He’s the brother I would have chosen. The same goes for Xavier, but I’m sure you know that.” His smile was perfunctory. “You have, after all, been spending an inordinate amount of time with them.”
Whoa … Wait a minute. If I didn’t know better, I’d have said he sounded jealous. But no, this was Lore, and he’d been the one avoiding me, not the other way around.
“It’s a small ship, Lore, not much to do aside from getting to know one another. You should try it sometime.”
He pressed his lips together. “I have to work, and I don’t really have time to explain the process.”
So, we were back to the original conversation and a very clear piss off.
“No worries. I’ll catch you later.”
But he was already fixed to his microscope. I left him to his cells and noted that the tangle of emotion in my chest was gone. Lore’s focus and disinterest in me had done the trick, now a little sparring might be the icing on the cake. But Xavier wasn’t an option. Not with the way we’d left things.
The makeshift punching bag would have to do.
I changed into workout gear—loose yoga pants and a vest that was too big but worked fine when knotted at the waist—and headed for the training room Xavier had created just for me.
The sound of grunts greeted me, and when I peered in, I was tempted to turn around
and leave.
Vex was in there. And he was half naked.
3
Vex was on the ground doing push-ups. His torso was bare and glistening in the overhead lights. Joggers hugged his slender hips and showcased buttocks that you could bounce pennies off. He’d tied his golden hair back and looked every part the barbarian his kind were rumored to be. Except, I knew the truth. Vex was an honorable Trad, a male who valued women, one who’d gone out of his way to protect me on the asteroid. He could have violated me on so many occasions. Heck, Marick, the bastard guard, had expected him to do just that, but instead, the Trad that everyone had feared had kept me safe.
I kicked off my shoes and padded into the room.
He didn’t falter at my appearance, and he didn’t falter when I hit the ground beside him and started doing my own push-ups. I did a hundred fifty, and he kept going with me. When I stood and moved to the punching bag, he continued, his huge body rippling with his efforts. Fuck, he was gorgeous.
Focus, Rogue.
The bag took my punches, swinging back at me in retaliation after each blow, and with each blow, I was aware of Vex. Aware that he was finished with his push-ups. Aware that he was crouched on the mats watching me. Aware that he was standing and stretching his magnificent marble-hewn body.
“You want to spar?” His voice was a delicious rumble that skimmed up my spine like the caress of eager fingers.
I slammed my palm into the bag to stop the momentum. Did I want an excuse to touch him? Yes. Oh, God, yes. Was that his plan too? Were we really going to do this?
It was a bad idea.
“Sure?” My traitorous mouth had other plans.
His amethyst eyes were cool when I faced him. He rolled his neck on his shoulders.
Rebel: Survivors Heart book 2: Planet Athion Page 1