by Anna Hackett
“Where’s Toren?” Acton asked.
“He’s training with Sage,” Jax said. “She was up early, and said she wanted to learn some self-defense after yesterday’s attack.”
With Toren? She was Acton’s friend. He would have helped her. A roaring sound filled his ears.
“Acton?” Magnus said.
“Yes.” He forced himself to focus on his imperator.
“Do you have your report on the training schedules?”
Acton accessed his records and updated the others on the training schedules for the gladiators and cyborgs. “Xias has requested some new gear for gladiators and their training. I’ve approved it. The new cyborg recruits are coming along well. Many are above acceptable levels with the various weapons.”
“Good. Mace?” Magnus prompted.
The big cyborg reported in on the work of their weapons master, Maxon. The House of Rone had a reputation for making the best weapons on Carthago.
“Maxon is as surly and bad-tempered as always,” Mace added. “He’s insisting on some cratanium diamond for edging some blades. It’s expensive.”
“Do it,” Magnus said.
“Because you want the cratanium edging or you want to avoid Maxon storming in here and having a tantrum?” Mace asked.
“Both,” Magnus replied dryly.
Jax grinned. “All other House business is running smoothly.”
Magnus leaned forward, resting his hands on his desk. “And now, onto the subject of the Edull.”
Acton straightened, and felt the others sharpen as well.
“I spoke with Zhim and Ryan. The information merchants are following up on some whispers they picked up on. They’re following the threads, but don’t have anything for us, yet.”
Acton knew the two information merchants could finesse any data system. If there was information to find, they’d find it eventually.
“Rillian and Tannon are doing the same, and tapping all the contacts associated with the Dark Nebula.”
Rillian was the very wealthy owner of the Dark Nebula Casino. Tannon was his head of security, and they had a large network of informants. They’d all been helping with the search for Bari Batu and the captive humans.
“And Corsair?” Acton asked. The caravan master had been born and raised in the desert. His caravan traversed the dunes, and if anyone knew anything about a lake in the desert, it would be Corsair.
Magnus nodded. “I spoke with him. He doesn’t know anything about this lake in the desert. Bari Batu is on the far side of Carthago, well out of Corsair’s regular caravan routes. But he knows people who might have information. He’s talking with them.”
“So, he’s heard something,” Jax said.
The imperator leaned back in his chair, his cybernetic eye glowing. “It’s likely that he’s heard old stories, but he won’t share anything until he has something solid.”
Acton understood. It would be a waste of resources to chase down unsubstantiated rumors. Still, he felt a sense of urgency. A sensation he wasn’t accustomed to.
He wanted them to have something so he could reassure Sage that they would find her crew member and her daughter.
Sage. It reminded him of where she was and what she was doing. If she wanted to learn to fight, he would teach her. He started for the door.
“Acton?” Magnus said, his voice abrupt.
“I need to go.”
Acton charged into the hall. It didn’t take him long to reach the training arena. Instantly, he spotted them there across the sand. Sage had a short sword in her hand, and Toren was calling out moves.
Acton frowned. The sword was too heavy for her. He could see that she was having trouble lifting it smoothly.
“Acton?”
He turned his head as Quinn appeared beside him, wearing fighting leathers. She was sweaty, and holding her staff in her hand.
“You okay?” she asked. “You look…more intense than usual. Like something is upsetting you.”
He frowned. “I don’t f—”
“Feel. Right, except you look like you want to rip Toren’s head off.”
Acton paused. “Perhaps just one arm.”
Quinn snorted. In the arena, Sage missed her swing. When she almost tumbled over, she laughed and Toren smiled.
The muscles in Acton’s gut tightened.
“What’s going on?” Quinn asked carefully.
“I believe I inadvertently hurt Sage.”
The Earth woman tilted her head and leaned on her staff. “Tell me.”
“I cared for her after the attack yesterday. I helped her from the regen tank and back to her room.”
“Go on.”
“My body was…” Maybe it wasn’t such a smart idea to talk to Quinn about this.
“I’m not a mind reader, Acton. Tell me.”
“I was aroused,” he answered tightly.
Quinn’s eyes popped open wide. “Oh. Oh.”
“Sage expressed some feeling for me. I tried to explain to her that I don’t feel enough—”
One of Quinn’s eyebrows arched. “If you feel desire, and you’re upset that she’s upset, your insistence that you don’t feel anything smells a lot like bullshit.”
Acton had no idea what bullshit was, but Quinn’s tone said it wasn’t good. “I don’t want to feel.”
“Now we’re getting somewhere.” She nodded. “You’re starting to feel stronger emotions?”
He fought the urge to hunch his shoulders. “Yes. It is unpleasant and unproductive.”
“You’re protecting yourself.”
He stiffened. “I don’t want to hurt Sage—”
“You’re out of practice feeling things, and dealing with emotions is hard, Acton. It’s messy, chaotic…”
“I dislike mess and chaos.”
“I promise you, the payoff can be amazing. But there is always some risk.”
He watched Sage swing the sword again.
“If you make her happy, and she makes you happy…” Quinn said. “In the end, it’s worth it.”
“She said she wasn’t surprised that I didn’t want her enough. She mentioned her mother and her ex.”
Quinn tossed her braid over her shoulder and sniffed. “She hasn’t said too much, but I’ve read between the lines. It sounds like her mother isn’t a nice woman. She was pretty indifferent to hearing that Sage was alive.”
Acton frowned. “How could someone not want to care for Sage?”
For some reason, Quinn smiled at him. “Sage was dating a man back on Earth when she was on the Helios. After he heard the Helios was missing, he somehow managed to get over his grief, meet another woman, and now has a child on the way.”
Acton processed this information. Sage’s mother didn’t love her. And her former lover got over loving her very quickly. “I pushed her away and I hurt her.”
“Yeah. If you can’t give her what she needs, Acton, give her some space and time.”
His hands curled into fists.
Quinn reached out and tapped his arm. “But I think if you dig deep, and let yourself feel, you might be just what she needs.”
He nodded. “Thank you, Quinn.”
She eyed him for a second. “Good luck.”
He swiveled, striding across the sand to where Toren was leaning far too close to Sage. As he neared, Sage’s head snapped up, the sunlight glinting off her copper hair. He saw a mixture of emotions swirl through her eyes before they shuttered.
“Toren, I’ll take over Sage’s training,” he said.
Toren straightened, looking between them. “I think—”
“I wasn’t asking,” Acton said.
His fellow cyborg raised a brow. “Now, Sage asked me—”
“It’s fine, Toren.” Sage shot the cyborg a bright smile. “Thanks for your help.”
Toren looked at both of them for a long moment. “Okay. If you need anything, let me know.”
Once Toren had left, Acton turned to face Sage.
Sage h
ad really hoped to avoid Acton today.
Now, here he was, in all his bare-chested glory. She sucked in a breath. She was covered in a sheen of sweat, muscles wobbly from exertion. Meanwhile, Acton looked icily perfect. His brown hair was neat, his skin its usual, beautiful, gold, and his face a cool mask.
She cleared her throat. “I was training with Toren. I—”
“You’ll train with me.”
There was something in his voice that she couldn’t quite read. “I was fine with Toren.”
“You’re mine.”
Her gaze narrowed. “We’re friends.” She almost choked on the word. A part of her wanted to throw her stupid sword at him. “I’m House of Rone, like you said. I know everyone here is willing to help me.”
Acton stepped closer and the heat of him hit her skin. “I will help you.”
She huffed out a breath. She’d been so foolish to push things with him yesterday evening. So his body had a biological reaction, that didn’t equal feelings. She needed some armor between her and Acton. She needed to keep her own needs locked down. He could hurt her. Badly. That was the last thing she needed.
“Acton—”
“That sword is too heavy for you.” He took it from her and strode over to a weapons rack set up by the side of the training arena. She followed him, watching as he set the sword down and then considered the weapons. He picked up two long knives.
“These are better for you.” Holding the blades, he held the hilts out to her.
Resigning herself to working with him, she took the weapons. She wished for a second that she was also a damn cyborg and could turn her emotions off.
“Fine.” She gripped the hilts. She was relieved that they felt lighter than the sword. But her belly was churning. She really needed some time away from Acton to get her unruly emotions under control.
He led her over to some training dummies and positioned her in front of one.
“Let’s do some basic steps and moves first.” He pulled a sword off the rack, then demonstrated the moves he wanted her to do.
Sage listened. She followed his footwork, and moved the knives through the air. They felt much better than the sword, and were easier for her to lift.
But he worked her hard, and was—unsurprisingly—a perfectionist. Soon, Sage’s hair was plastered to her scalp and she was sure her arms were going to fall off.
Finally, he nodded with satisfaction, and they moved closer to the dummy.
“Go,” he ordered.
She practiced the moves, stabbing and slashing with the knives. The dummy rocked on its heavy base.
“Good,” he said.
His praise filled her with warmth.
“Lift this elbow more.” He moved in behind her, his chest pressed to her back.
She closed her eyes for a second. He was so big and warm. When his metal arm brushed her skin, it felt cool, and she liked the contrast.
Air shuddered out of her.
He stilled. “Sage?”
“Go on.” Her voice was throaty.
“We’ll practice throwing the knives now.”
He showed her how to hold and balance the knife. After several practices, the sand was in danger but the dummy wasn’t.
“Grr.”
“Focus,” he said. “You can do this. Possibly. Your aim is not very good.”
She wrinkled her nose. “That’s a terrible pep talk, Acton.”
“I’m just stating facts.”
She was going to damn well hit that dummy. She lifted the knife and threw it.
It lodged in the dummy’s stomach.
“Yes!” She grinned, feeling pretty damn badass.
Acton crossed his arms. “Again.”
Sage threw again and again. She wasn’t hitting exactly where she was supposed to, but the dummy had a lot of knife marks on it now.
Finally, her knife whizzed through the air and struck in the central part of the dummy’s chest. Direct hit.
She jumped up and down. “I did it!”
Flushed from her success, she turned and threw her arms around Acton. He froze.
Oops. “Sorry—” She moved to step back.
“Don’t.” He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her back to his chest, pinning her in place.
Her cheek pressed against his warm skin, and she heard the heavy beat of his heart. It had a different rhythm to hers, but it was strong and steady.
She breathed in and pulled in the scent of him—musk, metal, leather. Desire, hot and strong, punched through her, leaving her a little dizzy.
Not good.
She wrenched back. “I can’t do this.”
“What?” he asked with a frown.
“I can’t be around you and not touch you.” She shoved her hair back. “I can’t be just friends. I’m sorry. I want…” She broke off. None of this was his fault. She released a long breath and let her shoulders sag. “It doesn’t matter what I want.”
“Sage—”
Biting her lip, she shook her head. “This is bad for both of us. You don’t want to feel, and I know that feeling can lead to heartbreak.”
He frowned. “Hearts can break from feeling?”
“No, it’s a metaphor.” Her voice dropped. “When you want to be loved, and someone doesn’t return the feeling, it hurts. Really hurts.”
He stared down at her. “So we should refrain from spending too much time together?”
“Right.” Her chest ached. It was the best thing for both of them.
“And we should refrain from touching each other?”
“Yes.”
He slid one of his hands into her hair.
She jolted. “Acton, what—?”
He started to massage her scalp with the perfect amount of pressure. “If you want to touch me, then touch me.”
Sage blinked, certain she was having a dream while she was awake, or maybe a hallucination. His fingers dug into her scalp and it felt glorious. She moaned.
His hands slid down her neck, finding the knots of tension in her muscles and working on them. She let her head fall forward. His cybernetic fingers were so strong, but he didn’t use too much pressure.
“Acton, you’re touching me.”
“Yes.”
She felt so confused, needy, afraid.
“I want to touch you, Sage. I don’t want Toren, or anyone else, touching you.”
The possessive tone of his voice made her gasp. She tilted her head up to look at him.
He brushed a thumb across her cheekbone.
“You’ll need to be patient with me,” he urged.
Her lips parted. Was he telling her what she thought he was? “Um, Acton, you’re going to have to spell things out for me.”
“I want you to teach me to feel, Sage.”
She sucked in a breath. “Acton—”
“Acton. Sage.” Jax’s voice rang across the arena, making them both jolt. They turned.
The cyborg was striding across the sand, his red cloak flaring out behind his powerful body. Sage felt Acton straighten and step away from her. He once again looked like his cool, serious, cyborg self.
“What’s happened?” Acton demanded.
“We have news from Corsair,” Jax said.
Sage hissed in a breath. She felt the brush of fingers at the center of her back, light as a feather. She glanced at Acton, but saw he was focused on Jax, even though he was touching her.
“Corsair knows someone,” Jax said. “An old, desert dweller who remembers ancient stories about a distant desert lake.”
“When do we leave?” Acton asked.
“Now.”
Sage took a step forward. “I’m coming.”
Acton’s brow creased. “Sage—”
She shook her head. “Don’t even bother trying to talk me out of it.”
Chapter Seven
They moved under the stone archway leading into Varus’ stables. Ahead, Acton watched Magnus nod and move to grip the arm of the big, former gladiator. Varus
was a burly man, the history of his long time spent in the arena—well before the gladiatorial houses spent fortunes on medical technology—blatantly displayed on his scarred body.
“Welcome,” Varus boomed. “It is always a pleasure to do business with the House of Rone.”
Acton stayed close to Sage as Varus’ stablehands brought out the tarnids. He was watching her face the moment she saw the animals.
The big, scaly beasts had six legs, and were built to cover long distances. They intimidated most people, but Sage smiled, reaching out and patting the neck of the fierce animal.
“Many people are afraid of tarnids,” he said.
“I told you that I like unique things.” She patted the tarnid’s dark-green scales. “You’re beautiful, aren’t you?”
Acton gripped her waist and lifted her up onto the beast. She made a squeaking sound, but then settled. He swung up behind her and she made another small noise.
He stilled. “Are you okay?”
She nodded, glancing back over her shoulder to smile.
Acton pulled in a breath, and under the heavy scent of animal, he detected a musky, spicy scent.
She was aroused. His body vibrated. Instead of blocking the emotions, he let them flow, accepting them. He tightened his arm around her, then he leaned forward and pulled in the scent of her hair.
“Are you sniffing my hair?” she said.
“Is that not acceptable?”
A smile flirted on her lips. “I don’t mind. Sniff away.”
Ahead, Magnus, Jax, and Toren mounted their tarnids. Mace scowled for a second before climbing on his. He didn’t enjoy riding.
A thought occurred to Acton. “Will you be okay being back in the desert?”
“I’ll be fine.” Sage’s voice was filled with solid determination.
Magnus led the way, and soon the tarnids’ hooves clicked on the stone road as they made their way out of the city. It wasn’t long before the desert sands opened up ahead of them.
Sage pulled the light-weight scarf around her neck up over her head. She’d changed into typical loose-fitting, pale-colored desert clothes.
“Are you sure you’re all right?” he asked again.
She nodded. “The desert’s gorgeous in a stark, dangerous way. Besides, I was locked in the Edull’s cells and labs most of the time. I never saw much of the desert itself.”