AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Torq closed the distance between us and circled his hands around my waist. “I have never told anyone about that night. I told your friend that it was a special place, and she told me she did not need to know more than that.”
That sounded like my Iron friend. Always the pragmatist, and apparently, also a skilled holo-designer. My gaze snagged on something that hadn’t been in the cave before “I don’t remember this in the cave.”
Torq swiveled his head to follow my gaze and let out a low laugh when he spotted the furs neatly spread out with an ice bucket chilling a bottle of wine and two glasses. “You friend must have suspected my intentions.”
I wanted to tell him that most guys had only a handful of intentions and would have fingers left over, so it wasn’t a stretch for Britta to imagine that Torq’s request for a holo-design might have something to do with seduction. Especially since we’d been inseparable from the moment he’d kissed me in the main hall and Morgan had walked from the banquet hall, seen us, and started cheering.
Not only had the admiral seen it all play out, but Torq had not wanted to keep any more secrets. We’d gotten official approval to date, which wasn’t tough since we were in different schools and were both cadets well past the age of consent on either planet. Morgan had given me a hard time about not telling her all the dirt earlier, but she’d gotten over it in about sixty seconds. After she’d threatened to castrate Torq if he ever hurt me again.
“Shall we pour the wine?” I asked, suddenly eager for some liquid courage. The last time we’d been in the cave it had been dark, and I had believed that it was the last time I’d ever be with Torq. I’d let go of all my inhibitions, but now that we were back in the cave, I felt unexpected twinges of shyness.
Torq’s mouth curved into a crooked smile, but he released my waist and took my hand to lead me to the furs. I sat while he plucked the bottle from the bucket, drops of icy water dripping from it as he poured the pale-pink liquid into the glasses. Then he eyed the label. “Your friend is not as serious as she appears.”
I knew that Britta could be wild and funny, but most of the academy saw her serious, studious side. I picked up my glass. “Why?”
Torq joined me on the blanket, lifted his glass, and clinked it against mine. “Because this is Palaxian Pleasure Tonic.”
I took a sip, surprised by how sweet and fruity it was, and by the warmth that instantly spread down to my fingers and bubbled in my chest. “What does Palaxian Pleasure Tonic do?”
He downed the rest of his drink in a single gulp. “Illumination off.” The lights flicked off and we were in familiar darkness. I felt the heat of his body as he leaned over and found the back of my head with one hand, tangling his fingers in my hair and nipping my ear before whispering into it. “Why don’t I show you?”
Chapter
Seventy-Three
Vyk
Istood at my desk, leaning my hands on either side of a report and scowling. The mission into Kronock territory would not be easy. Not since the enemy had obtained some of our technology and had developed even more of their own. Not that there were reports of another, distinct threat from an alien swarm. But it had to be done. The human pilot must be saved.
My top lip curled at the thought of human females. I had hoped that I would never have to encounter them again. I had hoped that spending a career in Inferno Force and battling the galaxy’s fiercest foe would have ensured that I stayed far from the blue planet and their mercurial females. I had thought I would be safe from the memories of the female who had rejected me.
Focusing on the report spread in front of me, I tried to brush aside memories of the tribute bride who had chosen not to accept me as her mate. It had been long ago, and I had been a different Drexian.
I scraped a hand down my short beard, knowing that the silver in it was proof that I was no longer the idealistic, romantic warrior I had once been. I had been so young when I had arrived on the tribute bride space station and met my intended bride, only to be informed that she had chosen not to be with me. She had chosen to live alone on the station with other females who rejected their Drexian mates. She had chosen life as a reject instead of a life with me. Even now, the faint memories stung like a sharp blade sliding stealthily into my heart.
“It is done.” I shook my head and banished the lingering thoughts of the past from my mind. They did me no good and stirred up my bitterness. Everyone at the academy already believed me to be bitter and cruel enough.
A pounding on my door made me glance up. Was Tivek summoning me to my meeting with the admiral early? “It is open. Come.”
The steel door slid open, but it was not the admiral’s adjunct.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” The human Strategy instructor stormed into my office with her golden hair swinging. She stopped on the other side of my desk and glared at me.
I returned her gaze, trying to control my own heart rate as her blue eyes flashed and made her even more stunning. “I am reviewing a report on—”
“I mean, what are you doing with monsters still in the dungeons? I heard what happened down there when you caught the Blade cadet. I know there is still at least one beast in the dungeons.”
I took a breath to steady myself. “One of the beasts survived the maze. We have not been able to return it to its planet yet.”
She blinked at me long and slow. “So, you’re keeping it stored under an academy filled with cadets after many of them almost died defending themselves against monsters in the maze?”
“For now.” I crossed my arms over my chest to keep my hands from doing something I would regret.
Fiona heaved in a breath. “Listen, I know you don’t like me. I know you don’t like any human. That’s fine. I don’t care. But if you think I’m going to stand by and let you put any cadets at risk, you can think again.”
“I do not dislike you,” I managed to say between gritted teeth.
She barked out a laugh. “You don’t have to like me but do me the favor of not lying to me. I hate lying.”
