After the call ended, I leaned back in my chair. While I would have loved for Evelyn to commit more soldiers, it wasn’t all bad. At least she didn’t refuse to help at all, or worse, decide to side with Hitoshi.
“Will Lady Rockhurst really agree to peace so easily?” Alex asked.
“I hope so. If we don’t make a change now, then we’ll be just as bad as our parents.”
“And what if you are?”
I bit back my instinctive protest and really thought about the question. What if we were just as bad as the previous generation? Maybe this was why nothing ever changed. Each generation thought we were improving things, but really we were just maintaining the status quo.
“I don’t know,” I said at last. “I need someone from outside the system to keep an eye on us and ensure we’re really improving things. Want to volunteer?” I asked lightly, but my pulse beat wildly and my heart was in my throat.
A teasing smile tugged at his mouth. “What do I get in return?”
“The satisfaction of saving the universe?”
His smile heated and morphed into temptation. “I was thinking of something more personal.”
“Like what? A statue with your name on it?” I asked innocently.
“While that is tempting, how about a kiss?”
“A kiss could be arranged.” I stood and circled the desk. Alex remained sprawled in his chair, a predator pretending to be harmless. I approached slowly, aware that he could move far faster than his lazy pose would indicate.
Even with my caution, I wasn’t fast enough to dodge the arm that snaked around my waist and tugged me into his lap. I laughed as the world tilted and resettled with me pressed up against the hard muscles of his chest.
“Happy?” he asked quietly.
I heard the question under the question and nodded. “I’m very happy where I am, thank you. But while you make a lovely chair, I believe I was promised a kiss.”
Alex’s expression remained serious, but his eyes danced. “You’re wrong. I was promised a kiss.”
“So you were.” I framed his face with my hands and the stubble of several days’ worth of beard growth tickled my palms. I shivered in delight. I loved a man who looked a little rough around the edges. Not that Alex needed any help in the dark and dangerous department.
I slowly drew his face down to mine, until our lips just brushed. I had planned to take this slow, to enjoy a drawn-out tease, but as soon as our lips met, my plans went out the window.
It felt like I’d wanted him forever and the banked desire roared into an inferno of heat and want and now. I moaned and pressed closer, fusing our lips together. I tempted his tongue into my mouth and then sucked on it in a bold imitation of what else I’d like to suck. He groaned and clenched me tighter.
The slow slide of his tongue against mine threatened to send me up in flames. The kisses blended into each other until I was hot and wet and aching. I shifted restlessly, seeking pressure, chasing relief.
Alex’s hand found my breast and he palmed the weight of it. I arched into his touch. His thumb stroked my nipple into a hard point. I broke from the kiss with a gasp. Alex trailed kisses down my neck, and the gentle burn of his whiskers made my skin hypersensitive.
The world shifted as he stood and carried me with one arm. He locked the door without setting me down.
“We don’t have time,” I protested weakly. I didn’t want to stop, but without his kisses driving me crazy, all of my pressing worries came back. While I was waiting for Ying, I could be planning with Marta or checking on our people or a million other things.
“Just a few minutes,” he coaxed. “I’m not going to take you on a desk—unless you ask very, very nicely—but the world can spare you for a few minutes.”
The thought of being spread on a desk while Alex drove us to bliss probably shouldn’t have been as enticing as it was, but now that he’d planted the idea, I couldn’t get it out of my head. Heat crept into my face until I was sure it had to be scarlet.
Laughter rumbled from deep in his chest. “Thinking of asking nicely, are you?”
“Maybe I was imagining you spread out on the desk like a feast and I was just considering where I would taste first.”
He groaned and his grip tightened. “Keep talking and I’ll forget I wanted to take my time.”
I pressed a kiss to his neck, then licked and nibbled my way to his ear. “We’re both strong enough, I bet we could invent some new positions the universe has never seen before,” I whispered.
He set me on the edge of the desk, then spread my legs and stepped between them. I could feel him through our clothes, hard as steel. I wrapped my legs around his waist and dragged him closer, until we were practically fused together. I rocked against him and sighed out my pleasure. So close, but still so far.
“I’m not going to fuck you on a desk for our first time,” he gritted out. The muscles in his neck were tense as he fought for control.
“Why not?”
“You deserve to be comfortable and I want to have plenty of time to worship every centimeter of you. A desk is not that.”
I knew he was probably right, but my tendency toward chaos had taken over and I couldn’t help torturing him, just a little. “Okay. I won’t ever ask you to do something you’re uncomfortable with.” I waved toward the chair behind him. “Take a seat. As soon as I’ve solved this little problem on my own, we’ll get back to work. You can worship me later.”
His breath hissed out in a rush, as if I’d gut punched him.
I gave him my sweetest smile. “Don’t worry, it shouldn’t take me long. You can watch if you’d like.”
He groaned deep in his chest and closed his eyes for a moment to collect himself. I could see his body was a single line of tense muscle as he tried to maintain his control. His eyes met mine. “Take off your clothes,” he demanded.
I shook a finger at him. “Nonparticipants don’t get to issue orders.” I unclasped my legs and pushed him back a couple of steps. “Sit.”
He sat, his expression hot and intense and yearning.
I took a second to consider my path forward. He’d made his preference clear, despite his teasing, and I wasn’t going to try to tempt him into sex, as much as I wanted to. So the clothes would stay on.
I laid back across the desk and unbuttoned my pants. I pushed my shirt up, exposing my bare belly and bra. I thumbed a pebbled nipple and moaned at the little jolt of pleasure. It really wouldn’t take much to push me over the edge.
Alex’s hands were white-knuckled on the arms of his chair.
I slid my left hand down, edging under my underwear. I was swollen and hot and wet and even the lightest touch sent shockwaves arcing through my system. “I wish you could feel how wet I am right now,” I told Alex.
I’d always been a bit of a talker during sex and his deep groan told me that he didn’t mind at all.
“You could glide home so easily and this empty, achy feeling would go away. You would fill me up, wouldn’t you?”
The chair arm snapped.
“Let me touch you,” he growled, his voice harsh with need.
I shuddered at the thought of his hands on me. I raised my head to look at him. His eyes burned and his muscles were clenched tight. The fact that he remained sitting despite his obvious desire sent a delicious thrill through me. “Okay,” I agreed, “but no sex.”
“Deal.” The word was barely out of his mouth before he moved. He swept me up and returned to the seat with me straddling his spread legs, my back to his chest. When properly motivated, he could move fast.
I could feel him, hot and hard against my ass. I wiggled and he sucked in a breath. Then his right hand slipped under the waistband of my underwear and I went molten. I trembled as his fingers glided past my clit. The fact that I couldn’t see what he was doing thanks to my clothes only added to the eroticism.
He dipped one finger into my aching core and my whole body clenched. “More!” I demanded with a moan.
He added another finger, then pressed his palm against my clit. My hips rose and I hovered on the brink of control. I undulated against him, riding his fingers, seeking bliss.
“That’s it, take what you need,” he rasped into my ear.
The words shattered my control and I moved faster, telling him exactly how good it felt and how much I wanted him. He rocked against me, his breathing rough, and gave me everything I needed.
The world went white and my body bowed into an arch as every muscle clenched and pulsated. Alex’s answering groan and shudder pushed my pleasure higher.
I slowly drifted back to Earth, the desire banked but not burned out. It would be so easy to turn around, slide open his pants, and lose myself again. Only honor kept me still. I had already pushed at the boundary Alex had set; I wouldn’t cross it.
I turned my head and pressed a gentle kiss to the edge of his jaw. “Thank you.”
His chuckle was warm and soft. “Anytime, princess.”
He withdrew his hand, causing all sorts of interesting aftershocks, but I held my breath and ordered my body under control. I really did have responsibilities that couldn’t wait forever.
I stood on shaky legs and fixed my clothing. I leaned down and pressed a brief kiss to Alex’s mouth. “That was hot as fuck,” I whispered to him, “but the next time you start something you don’t intend to finish, I’m tying you up so all you can do is watch helplessly while I get myself off over . . . and over . . . and over. If you’re very, very good I might take pity on you—eventually.”
A rumble of pure male pleasure came from deep in his chest. He reached for me but I slipped away. “I’m going to get cleaned up and then go talk to Marta. I want to be ready to go when Ying gets back. I’ll meet you in the war room.”
MARTA, ALEX, AND I SPENT THE SMALL HOURS OF THE morning discussing various strategies. Alex hadn’t lied when he said he had military strategy experience. His guidance shaped our overall plan into something that actually had a chance of succeeding.
Evelyn Rockhurst was also having a late night. When the peace treaty arrived, I opened it with trepidation, but it was short and straightforward. She hadn’t tried to screw me, so I signed it, with Marta and another high-level advisor as witnesses. There was no fanfare, no big celebration. This was just the first step on a long road to change. And even though the war was officially over, we couldn’t tell the people still fighting.
I had to get the gates up.
While I waited for Ying to return, I sent messages to our allies here on Earth—and those I was trying to charm into being allies. I couldn’t ask for troops, no matter how badly we needed them, because I didn’t know who might be a traitor. But I checked in, let them know that House von Hasenberg still stood, and that we would help as much as we could.
Lady August responded first, despite the late hour. She didn’t ask a single question, but she insisted on sending a squad of eight soldiers in combat armor. I couldn’t very well refuse on the grounds of not needing them, not when her uncle had busted me out of a cell in the backup command center, so I sent Marta to meet them at the same entrance we’d used before.
When they arrived in the main gathering hall, it did not surprise me at all that Clayton was among them. He saw me and raised a hand in greeting. “Pippa and the rest of the family are safe in our bunker with my best soldiers protecting them. Sorry I couldn’t bring more.”
“We’ll take what we can get. Thanks for coming.”
He grinned. “Wouldn’t miss it.” His grin died, and he continued, “They killed General Momola. This won’t bring her back, but I hope it gives her some satisfaction on the other side.”
I lowered my head in silent agreement. We’d already lost so many, and we were likely to lose so many more. And because this was now my plan, those deaths would be on my shoulders.
After Clayton returned to his soldiers, Alex slipped his hand into mine. “He’ll be okay. He’s a good soldier.”
I could only hope Alex was right.
FOUR AND A HALF HOURS AFTER THEY LEFT, JUST WHEN I was starting to worry, Ying and Aoife returned with forty soldiers, which was far more than I had expected, but also nearly twice as many civilians. Our stronghold was full to bursting, but I couldn’t turn them away.
Ying’s grim expression told me that it hadn’t been easy to get so many out. Several of the soldiers sported blaster wounds and Ying herself had picked up a new limp. With our plan set, I dragged her to the medbay and into a private room. “Let’s see it,” I demanded.
She bared her teeth at me, but when I just stared her down, she grimaced and dropped her pants. Her right calf was wrapped in a makeshift bandage that was stained with dried blood.
I pointed at the diagnostic table. I didn’t trust her not to be concealing something worse, mostly because it’s something I would do. She lay on the table and I kicked off a scan. While it ran, I gathered supplies to clean and properly bandage her calf.
“You’re not leaving me behind,” she grumbled. “Or telling Cira. She’ll try to get me to stay here.”
“I’m going to have to see what the scan says before I can agree,” I said. “I know you. You could have internal bleeding and five blaster holes in your torso and you’d still tell me it’s just a scrape.”
She glared at me. “If so, it’s because I learned it from my best friend.”
I held up my hands in surrender. “Guilty, which is why I’m on to your tricks.”
The scan came back surprisingly good. Ying hadn’t been exaggerating. Her calf wound was the worst, and with some regen gel and a tight bandage, she should be able to walk on it.
I cleaned and bandaged the wound while she continued to grump at me. When I was done, I asked, “Do you want a painkiller?”
She shook her head. “No, I need to be clearheaded. There’s too much going on for me to be out of it.”
I met her eyes. “Was it bad?”
Her shoulders slumped. “Yes. I had to fight people I’ve known all my life to escape with the ones who wanted to leave. Not everyone made it. Hitoshi has garnered a lot of support from a certain segment. I’m officially being declared a traitor.”
I snorted. “That’s rich.”
She nodded in agreement, but her expression remained pensive. “I won’t let him win, but if we fail tonight, I’m not sure what I’ll do.”
“We’ll regroup and try again. You’re not on your own. I’ll support you however I can, and I know Ferdinand feels the same way.”
“But if your father wakes—”
I sighed. “While I still expect the old bastard to wake at any moment just to bedevil me, he’s in bad shape. A wall section fell on him. The doctors don’t want to admit just how low his odds are, but I can read a diagnostic scan. His survival chance is less than five percent. The machine is the only thing keeping him alive at this point.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I’m not, and that makes me feel awful.” I looked at her. “Am I a terrible person?”
“Albrecht von Hasenberg is an asshole of the first order. The only people who will mourn his passing are the assholes who benefited from his fight to keep power and control in the upper echelons. You are not a terrible person.”
“Sometimes I wonder. What if every generation thinks they’re better than the last, but really we’re just the same?”
“Would your father send biweekly supplies to a group of street kids on Andromeda Prime?”
“He would if he thought it would benefit him somehow.”
“Yet he never did. It didn’t even occur to him. We’re undoubtedly going to fuck up occasionally, but you can’t learn without failing. And if you start down the path of becoming your father, I’ll kick your ass until you see reason again.”
I hugged her. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, but I don’t think you have to worry about it.” She slid off the table and her face went so blank that I knew her calf must hurt like hell.
“You don’t have to—”
“I’m going. The pain is annoying, not debilitating. I can do it.”
I inclined my head. “Then let’s do this.”
AFTER YING’S RETURN, WE SPENT A FEW MORE HOURS planning, setting the final details, then we all took some downtime. We agreed an attack at night would be best, so we had the day to rest and recuperate.
Ying, Aoife, Alex, and I had been up for over twenty-four hours, so we took over one of the bunk rooms and crashed for six hours. I don’t know if the others slept or not, but despite my worries, I slept like the dead. I could’ve used a few more hours, but I had things to do today.
Deep in the evening, when everyone was busy preparing for the night ahead, Alex and I slipped out of the stronghold and went to get my secret weapon. By the time we returned, the teams were starting to get outfitted for the attack.
Cira’s leg was nearly mended and she refused to be left behind again. The on-site doctor cleared her for duty, so although Ying wanted to keep her safe, there was no reason for her to stay behind.
Because we were part of the team that planned to infiltrate deep into the base, Alex, Aoife, Ying, Cira, and I were given ballistic armor and a pair of blast pistols each. I requested another set and the quartermaster didn’t even blink. She handed it over with a nod.
I looked around at the large gathering hall brimming with soldiers in various amounts of armor. A precious few were in combat armor, including four of the eight Lady Rockhurst had sent, but we didn’t have nearly as many as we needed, even with the extra armor we’d brought with us.
All told, we had seventy-five soldiers to attack a base held by up to ten times that many. It would’ve been laughably impossible if we’d planned on a frontal assault, but we hadn’t.
Our soldiers knew the layout far better than any foreign invaders, even if the attackers had studied the maps. We were going to use hit-and-run tactics to sow mayhem while a small team of six snuck inside. Our group of five would be joined by my secret weapon—Dr. Esteri Kryer, the astrophysicist I’d met at Mother’s brunch what felt like a million years ago.
Thanks to her work on the gates, she had clearance to get us into the heart of the base. She had readily agreed to help because her brother was in the RCDF off-planet and she hadn’t heard anything from him. She wanted the gates up as badly as the rest of us.
After Alex and I had snuck out to escort her in, I’d hidden her in the main office. With this many people around, I couldn’t risk someone leaking her identity because if they locked out her access, then our plan was dead in the water.
At midnight, teams began leaving to take their positions. With limited transports, only squads going to the far side of the base would be able to take them. The rest of us had to walk.
My team met in the main office. Esteri glanced up from her pacing but didn’t stop moving. Her hair was pulled back into a severe bun and she wore a high-necked, long-sleeved black shirt and dark gray pants. With her hair pulled back, her cheekbones were even more striking.
“Are you sure about this?” I asked her again.
She nodded once, decisively.
Ying narrowed her eyes. “I know you. You’re a doctor, right?”
“I have a doctorate,” Esteri agreed, “but I’m an astrophysicist. Esteri Kryer.”
“You wrote that incredible paper about the gate algorithm,” Ying gushed. “I’ve wanted to chat with you forever.”
That put a smile on Esteri’s face. “Most people run away when I start talking about work.”
“Ying isn’t most people,” I said. “Let’s get you in your armor before she distracts us for the rest of the night.”
“Spoilsport,” Ying grumbled good-naturedly.
Esteri had done a rotation in the RCDF science corps before becoming a researcher for them, so while she didn’t have combat experience, she at least knew how to put on armor and which end of the blaster to point at the enemy.
Aoife gave her a few more tips and we all discussed some last-minute strategy. Then it was time for us to leave. We had one of the shorter walks, since we were infiltrating the base from the closest edge, but we had a civilian with us.
I checked my gear for the third time. If I’d forgotten anything, it was too late now. We left the stronghold and stayed in the tunnels as long as we could. All of the squads were taking different routes, so if one was picked up, their position hopefully wouldn’t compromise the rest.
Everyone wore smart glasses and we were all tied into a local com group. Ying, Alex, Aoife, and I were also tied into the overall group coms, but until the attack started we were running radio silence unless an emergency came up, so there wasn’t any chatter.
When we finally emerged into the night, the muggy air made me long for the icy chill of the backup command center. Or at least a breeze to prevent the city from feeling quite so stifling.
Aoife led, with Ying and Cira behind her. Esteri was in the center of the group, so we could form a shield of bodies around her if we were attacked. I was next to last and Alex brought up the rear.
Aoife had her long rifle, as well as two blasters on her hips. I had my shielding cuff and Ying and Esteri had prototype personal shields. Ying’s eyes had lit up when I’d handed one to her. When I’d told her that I expected it to be returned, her smile had been angelic, which meant she was already plotting how to keep it.
The small puck-shaped devices were much more powerful versions of my shielding cuff. Marta had argued that I should have one, but my cuff wouldn’t work for anyone else, so having both was beyond selfish. Esteri was essential to the plan and Ying already had one injury. If I could save her from another one, I would.
The command center was just outside Serenity between the von Hasenberg and Rockhurst quarters. It should take us about an hour to reach it on foot. We kept to alleys and side streets as much as we could. The streets were deserted. A few lights glowed in building windows, but no one dared to be out.
We were just over halfway to our destination when Aoife peeked around the next corner and froze. A heartbeat later, she waved us back deeper into the alley.
“Patrol,” she whispered over the local com. “Too many to take out. We’ll go around.”
As we got closer to the command center, our fairly straightforward path became snarled because we had to backtrack and find alternate routes to dodge more and more patrols. Most were in groups of four, but some had as many as eight.
But Aoife had uncanny skill at detecting the patrols before they found us, and she led us through them like an expert seamstress threading a needle.
By the time the high wall surrounding the command center came into view, we’d eaten through most of the buffer time we’d built into the schedule. We needed to be in position in the next ten minutes because that’s when the fireworks would start.
I just prayed this night would end in victory instead of death.