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Ren tried to wrap his head around the impossible. Out of reflex, he turned his focus inward, making sure his connection to Inari remained intact. Sure enough, the wolf's presence nestled in his awareness: warm, comforting, and cautiously happy. He could taste tin where her concern crept into his awareness. Which only made everything more confusing. Inari had been checking on Lucia, wanted her to relax. He'd been about to relay that information when she responded as though she'd heard it herself.
"Everyone feels the wolves’ emotions though, right? I thought that was the whole point." She looked as confused as he felt, so that was a mercy at least. She also hadn't taken her hand off Inari's back, like she needed the wolf to ground her.
He knew the feeling.
"Not like that. I mean, if you’re observant, you can make a pretty good guess, but only bondmates experience the emotions of their individual wolves. Otherwise any time a group of wolves got together it would turn into a chaos of feelings." There was one situation where two people might share a wolf’s bond, he knew, but no way he was bringing that up. Not after he'd just turned her down.
And hadn't that been the hardest thing he'd had to do since he’d enlisted?
He inhaled through his nose. If Inari felt he and Lucia were supposed to be together, then he could take that up with his wolf at a much later date. After they'd gotten out of this mess. Ideally, after they were off Tyson and in orbit around a different world. In one of the other systems would be perfect.
Light blasted through the cave mouth, disrupting his train of thought. He shoved Lucia to the ground with one hand and tugged his blade free from the dead mercenary. Partially blinded, he went into a low crouch so he could charge the silhouette taking up the entrance.
"Stand down, Ranger. I'd rather not get the business end of that blade. Hell, you didn’t even clean it first."
The voice was familiar, and Ren realized he recognized the shape at the door. "Grenville?"
A blur zipped past him as Inari charged into Djehuti, Grenville's wolf. The two animals yipped and play growled as they tussled and greeted each other. The haze of joy and excitement washed into him from his wolf, and he wondered if Lucia felt it as well. He resisted the urge to ask her.
Grenville shut off the light on his harness and smiled. "Who else would come looking for you, Inouye? The brass are too smart to send Chen or May."
"Only because the two of them would insist on using explosives to find us somehow. At least you're doing this on the QT." He stood and crossed to his battle buddy, and they clasped each other’s forearms before Ren pulled the taller man into a one-armed hug. "I'm glad you got here."
Grenville followed him into the cave and prodded the mercenary with the toe of his boot. “I see you found a way to make the stay exciting, at least.”
“Very funny. Recognize any of that unit insignia?”
Grenville checked the mercenary’s kit, then rocked back on his heels. “What insignia? There’s nothing here. I’d ask how you managed to miss that fact, but...” He inclined his head at Lucia.
Ren flipped him off and hoped the heat in his cheeks wasn’t too visible. He crouched next to Lucia, who had watched the whole exchange with a bemused expression. She smirked at him. "I wondered when you were going to remember I was here."
As though he could forget. "Lucia Coronado, allow me to introduce Ranger Specialist Yancey Grenville, electronic countermeasures, communications, and..." Grenville was a brilliant sniper too, but that wasn't the sort of thing someone bragged about. Especially given what had happened to her pilot.
Fortunately, Yancey picked up the opening. "And your first-class ride back to the land of warm meals and soft beds." After an annoyed bark sounded behind him, he added, "And that's Djehuti. He's offended Ren didn't mention him first."
"It's Sarmiento," she said, extending a hand. "Not Coronado. Pardon me if I don't get up."
#
SOMETHING ABOUT UNASSIGNED Officers Quarters, Ren admitted. No matter the planet, no matter the base, they always smelled the same. Perfectly neutral, slightly musty, and carefully odorless. As preformed as the building itself.
Camp Silas Rollins on Tyson was local jurisdiction, and normally would have put a lance corporal like him in the barracks, but being a ranger had its privileges. He took a deep breath and eased himself onto the tastefully neutral couch that decorated the living area. Another wave of nausea rolled through him, courtesy of the KnitFast the base doc had given him. The final tally had been a pair of cracked ribs and a hairline fracture in one of his vertebra. And, of course, an ugly glare from the doc and some muttered comment about rangers being too dumb to know when they’re hurt.
Which was bullshit. He had been plenty aware of the pain. Getting Lucia to safety just mattered more.
Inari curled up at his feet, still working through the smoked meat bone she'd been given by one of the mess staff. Between the bone and the infrared heater warming the floor, the wolf had everything she needed.
Ren wished he could say the same. Still, the bed would be soft, and he could grab a decent night's sleep before hopping aboard the next trans-orbital and getting back to the constellation of ships that was his home. More importantly, he could put all the nonsense about Lucia Coronado back in the past, where it belonged.
Sarmiento. Whatever her name was now.
There was a knock at the door, and without looking up he answered, "It's open, Grenville." Honestly, he'd expected his teammate earlier, so they could coordinate their return to the Hunting Cry.
Lucia poked her head in. "Sorry, it's me. I can go if you're expecting—"
"No!" He jumped up, the word nearly a shout to push past the lump that had formed in his throat. "I mean, no. Please, come in." He quickly moved to clean up the place, despite having barely spent two hours in it.
She had a kick-glider under her knee for support—better for long-term use than crutches, which meant her break would be a long time healing. Despite being in one place, Lucia filled the room. It was impossible to not look at her. She'd picked up some clothes from the PX—a simple top and a pair of khaki trousers that seemed perfectly made to torment him.
After a quick glance around, she grinned. "Your apartment looks just like mine."
Her smile was infectious. "Yeah, modular is easy to print out on the big fabrication units." Nice, Ren. Great small talk. Maybe you could move on to logistics math next, really thrill her.
Somehow, she nodded instead of running away screaming. "Makes sense, I suppose." She directed her scooter across the floor, then stood and lowered herself onto the couch. The utilitarian furniture looked more elegant just by benefit of her being on it. After an awkward silence, she laughed softly. "God. I suck at this."
It was like permission to exhale. "Me too. You're not a soldier, so I don't know what to talk about. Hell, you were still Coronado when I saw you last. Sarmiento is your mar—"
"Mother's name," she said, cutting him off. "I stopped using my father's name when I withdrew from the family. It was about the same time dear old dad felt I should put away my ‘childish interests’ and make a nice trophy wife for one of his cronies. Those two things are probably connected."
Despite the sarcasm in her tone, she tossed the idea out like it was nothing. Gave up her father's name—as though he wasn't one of the wealthiest people on Tyson. Top hundred, maybe even top fifty.
She coughed and pushed her hair out of her face. “Don’t stare at me like that. It’s not like it was a hardship. I had my own place and plenty of money socked away. I knew how to invest well. I was still my father’s daughter, even without his name.”
“Then how’d you end up in aid work?”
“Because they needed someone who cared and had money to fund some of the relief efforts.” She smiled. “Fortunately, I had both.”
He folded himself onto the floor, and Inari stretched out alongside his leg. “That sounds pretty noble to me.”
Lucia drummed her fingers on her thigh and chewed her lip before speaking. "Look. I need to say this. Back in secondaries, I did a stupid, hurtful thing—”
He brushed the air. “What’s past is past.”
“No. Please. Let me finish. I could give a bunch of excuses for why, but at the end of the day that’s all they are. Excuses. I hurt you because I was more interested in staying popular. Because people I thought were important convinced me that cruelty was a virtue. I never thought I’d see you again, never thought I’d have a chance to apologize to you in person. I was a bitch, and I need you to know how sorry I am about it."
Ren blinked. He'd expected a lot of things, but an apology hadn't been one of them. "We were kids. We all do dumb things. I don't even think about it." The lie almost sounded believable.
"Well I do, and I regret the shit out of it." Inari padded over and pushed her head under Lucia's hand. "I don't generally believe in second chances, so when one comes, I feel like I need to take it. Do you think this qualifies as a less-stressful circumstance?"
She took his hand, pulling him to the couch, and her touch bubbled through his blood until it emerged as a smile on his face. "It could be; I mean we aren't in immediate danger."
"So, you're not going to accuse me of being in shock?"
"I wouldn't want to take advantage..." He glanced at her foot, where the makeshift splint had been replaced by a high-end cast that covered the work they'd done to set the break.
She guided him onto the couch, turning him until he faced her. "I want this. Tell me you want this too. Or tell me you don't, and I'll leave."
Inari’s low growl let Ren know she thought that was a bad idea. So did the hunger that pooled in him when he met Lucia’s eyes. The downside of his bonding to Inari—the wolf made him all too aware of his emotions. Especially his hungers. "I want this."
He wanted a hell of a lot more than this, but he wasn't going to get greedy. When they’d been in school, he'd naively pictured a whole life together for them, before she'd broken up with him in such a spectacularly public fashion. Now he'd take what he could get.
She leaned into him, the smell of her hair surrounding him as his hands wrapped around her, and for a moment he felt peace. Then his lips met hers, and he was aflame.
He'd been a fool. He'd never be able to have enough of this. Could never settle for only a taste. His heart would break all over again, and it would be worth it.
Her hands slipped under his shirt, nails dragging over his abdomen and drawing a hiss from him. The first kiss broken, she glanced toward the corner. "I love Inari, but...is she going to watch?"
He laughed. "Only if we don't close the bedroom door."
Lucia gave him a playful shove toward the bedroom. "Then lead the way. I'm dying to find out if the rumors about wolfbound stamina are true."
#
LUCIA HIT THE LIGHTS as she scootered after him into the bedroom. The illicit thrill left her nerves thrumming—cohabitation was frowned upon in the officers’ quarters, as the dour soldier who’d taken her to her apartment had explained. At the same time, they didn’t want her off base, because they had yet to finish her debriefing.
She snort-giggled. Speaking of debriefing. Lucia sat on her scooter as she spun Ren around and pulled him back toward her. He reached past her, arm all muscle and power as he closed the door with a click.
Even with the door shut, she felt the low hum of satisfaction from Inari bleeding into her own nervousness and want.
Ren fell into her like a failing orbit, his mouth claiming hers with a hunger that drove her need higher. She slid her hands into the back of his trousers, smiling at his shiver when her nails dug into the taut muscles of his backside.
He broke the kiss with a low growl. “Clothes. Off. Now.”
When she pulled her shirt over her head, the air in the room was almost chilly. Ren’s appreciative gaze made her wish she had some of her pretty lingerie to wear—all the PX had were basic white garments. Functional, rather than sexy. Though from the look on Ren’s face these were working just fine. She reached behind her to undo the clasp and let the bra fall to the floor.
His hands skimmed up her sides, thumbs stroking the underside of her breasts before tracing circles around their peaks. Each rasping touch of his thumbs sent electricity skittering along her nerves and sharpened the ache in her abdomen. His voice was a reverent whisper. “God damn. You’re beautiful.”
She’d heard it before, too many times and from men too old to say such things, but he was the only one who could ever make her believe it. It made her self-conscious, and she leaned in to kiss him again. He backed up and she left the scooter, leaning into him as she limped toward the bed.
He sat, putting himself at mouth level with her breasts, and immediately pulled one tight bud into his mouth. The contact made her gasp, heightening her awareness of Ren’s body, his every breath. Every heartbeat.
She tugged his shirt off, forcing him to relinquish her nipple despite her body’s wishes. The slick skin puckered in the cool air, and the contrast was almost as delicious as his mouth had been. Lucia straddled his hips, unable to miss the press of his arousal against her core, even through their clothing.
She kissed her way up his neck, delighting in the shudder of his pulse beneath her lips, in the power of being able to completely undo Ren’s rigid control. After another kiss, she paused and touched her forehead to his. She felt a momentary pang of confusion from the wolf in the next room, one that seemed mirrored from Ren. “Before we go any further, I need to know we both still want this.”
He let out a shaky breath, his amused relief rippling along her awareness. “Lucia, I’ve wanted this for a decade.” He turned his arm, so she could see the implant under the skin. “TJF requires all soldiers to be on Panbeset.”
She reared back, showing him the identical implant in her own arm. “Me too, standard practice.” In addition to being a contraceptive, it also protected against nearly all sexually transmitted infections.
Yearning flared through her, and she wasn’t sure if it was hers or Ren’s. She also didn’t care, eager to have more of him. All he could give. Before her mouth snared his again, she flashed him a rapacious smile. “Then let’s not waste another second.”