Chaos Theory (9 page)

Satisfied, she lifted their arms. “You want a two handed grip,
and to bring the weapon eye-level.” The position forced him to move
closer to her. His broad chest pushed into her back as she lifted
their joined hands, and corrected how to position his arms as they
caged her in, his forearms resting on her shoulders.

He was tall, and she liked that.

“
By holding the pistol this way you’re afforded greater control
of the recoil,” she instructed. “So your second shot won’t go
wild.”

Kali relaxed into the pseudo embrace, her temple resting
against his chin. He breathed heavy, and his warm rush of breath
blew across her skin. The shooting range smelt like limes from
decontamination, but he had a masculine spicy thing going on that
made her want to nuzzle.

The scent curled around her, creating a cocoon of Blue she
felt utterly safe in.

She nudged his foot with hers, and the backwards motion bumped
her ass into his groin. Kali expected him to jolt and move back. He
did jolt, but crowded closer until he was pressed into her from her
upper back to her butt.

“
Um, you need to, ah….” Kali babbled as her body heated. “Your
foot needs to go, ah, go the other way.”

As he moved the foot back, Blue’s gaze slid down. His focus
narrowed onto Kali’s profile. The bold sweep of her upturned nose
made him think her cute. Burning with want, his gaze lowered to her
graceful chin then even lower until he became fixated on the twin
swells under her tunic. The effect on his body was like being
bludgeoned on the head. Out of respect, he forced his eyes back to
her face, and stared at her lips instead, admiring the prettiest
dusky pink he’d ever seen.

Kali missed the covetous looks Blue gave her since she was
concerned her heart worked at double its normal resting rate. Kali
thanked her stars he didn’t call her out. She didn’t have a
reasonable explanation for her behaviour other than he sniffed good
and felt nice. It would have been a pointless dance around the
obvious truth she was taking liberties with the lesson.

There was something heady about having so much male flesh
surrounding her. Max hugged her all the time, but it was never
sexual in nature.

Nothing about Blue’s arms around her felt friendly.

“
Lean your weight on your back foot and bend your knee.
Stellar.” She shifted and rubbed his hands under hers, transfixed
by how his skin felt in comparison. Tough at the knuckles and
joints, but smooth closer to the wrist. As easy as she saw these
hands, was as easy as she could see them on her body. “Now be
careful when you shoot. The muscles in your hand contracting when
you pull the trigger affect your aim.”

Blue was having trouble thinking straight. Kali snuggled into
his arms, and she’d put herself there. Her touch was soft;
undeniably curious as her fingers stroked between his. Raw
sensation ran down his body, twisted his guts, and made him shiver.
He adjusted his stance when his leathers became uncomfortably
tight. He’d been in this condition before near her, though he’d
never been this close.

It was a form of torture.

“
Unavoidable,” Blue muttered.

“
Yes, but you can compensate by slowly squeezing the trigger
allowing you to adjust as you fire.”

The lesson ended.

Kali stood there, trying to think of something, anything, to
keep her where she was.

Coming up blank, she cleared her throat and let her hands fall
away. With a nervous smile thrown over her shoulder, she ducked out
of his arms.

Blue fired and scored seventy out of a hundred.

He moved out of Kali’s way, slanting a heated look at her as
he passed. They were close, and Kali had to twist her torso when he
passed so he didn’t touch her. She swore some kind of energy
crackled between them.

Blue noticed they drew a lot of eyes. Being affectionate
wasn’t a problem in polite society as long as you found a RecRom to
cool off if things got to too hot.

He was LoCaste, and that he didn’t belong near her wouldn’t
have escaped notice either.

Kali knew people stared and didn’t give a quark. At that
internalized rebellion, her heart kicked. She felt brave,
empowered. It was freeing to forget who she was and what was
expected.

Positioned to fire, she waited for the target to snap up
before nailing two shots dead centre.

Wriggling in joy, she spun, and collided with Blue. Her hands
landed on his shoulders to stop herself falling.

Blue steadied her against him.

Kali was all he could see, hear, and feel. His body tensed at
the feel of her hips under his hands, the swell of her chest
pressed to his. Lust reared, and white noise roared in his ears.
Instinctively, he pulled her closer, and lowered his head until it
would be easy, simple, to kiss her. “Do you always react this way
to small victories?”

The knowing twinkle she caught in Blue’s eyes was
electrifying. Kali stared at him, astounded how her attraction had
switched from curious to ardent between heartbeats. He wasn’t
superficially confident, his strength ran deeper.

It was solar-hot.

Sizzling all over, her hands smoothed his shoulders and linked
at the nape of his neck. She tilted her head in invitation. “Sore
loser, huh?”

“
Kali,” Max bellowed. He sounded pissed. “We’re
leaving.”

Christabella flounced past, bashing into Kali as she went, and
her face red with some heated emotion.

Kali dragged her bottom lip into her mouth, raked it with her
teeth in frustration. She was going to kill him. Beat her beloved
Max to death with a brick. “Standard,” she called back, easing from
Blue’s arms.

She hesitated, giving him an opening to say something, or
signal interest in seeing her again, but when Max had shouted he’d
closed down, his eyes shuttering, and that twinkle
fading.

Disappointed, she turned to walk away.

Blue caught her hand.

Her heart tripped.

“
Wait. I … I’d like to–” He swallowed convulsively. “I’d like
to see you again. Like this. Go on a date.” He frowned. “Without
Max.”

“
Um, yes, let me give you my data.”

Tugging her TalkMe from her pocket, she waited until he had
his then exchanged BMIDs and linked networks.

Kali gave into her impulse and brushed the lightest of kisses
to his lips. It was intolerably forward, but in case he wasn’t that
into her, she’d have the memory of her lips on his.

She pulled back, and Blue followed. Body leaning until his
feet caught up. He wrapped an arm around her waist to haul her
close, and kissed her harder, making her tremble when his tongue
flicked out to sweep across her bottom lip, soothing the tenderness
her teeth caused.

Blood pounded in Kali’s ears and flooded other parts making
them heavy and hot. She placed her hands on his cheeks and dove
into it, let herself become lost.

He set her down, still close, and they both lingered, enjoying
the unexpected surge of desire.

Shocked shy, Kali dropped her gaze from his and moved away.
Bringing her TalkMe to her lips, she tapped it with her forefinger.
“Message me, okay?”

Blue caught the secret upward curve of her mouth, and thought
it beautiful. As he stared after her, he wondered if messaging her
right then would be considered too eager.

PART
TWO: ABDUCTION

Curiosity is the lust of the mind.

Thomas Hobbes

9.

Valiant ducked low. His heart pounded in his chest as he and
his teammate prowled closer to the target.

The glowing alien spaceship was the most beautiful thing he’d
seen. It was made from shimmering crystal, and flashed different
colours while a gentle tinkle drifted into the air.

Shame he was there to blow it up.

Valiant felt a tingle of apprehension, a vibe he’d learned to
listen to when on mission. He had to ignore it this time, and that
damaged his calm. There were two other units moving into position,
approaching enemy vessels in other quadrants with orders identical
to his; plant the pulse beacons that would act as a homing devices
for explosives waiting to be deployed.

The success of this strike was imperative. It was a warning to
the Novae of the Alliance’s strength and willingness to defend
their turf. The aliens had made insane demands, and Valiant was
proud to put foot to ass for his people.

After this mission was complete, his unit had twelve hours to
coordinate with the other two and evacuate three HiCaste families
of political importance before the air strike was
ordered.

He couldn’t shrug the feeling they were about to make a
mistake.

Zeke snuck up beside him and stared over the rooftop ridge. He
placed a hand on his friend’s shoulder, sensing how tense he was.
“Cosmic, Val? Are you sure you want to be the one to do this? We
can switch.”

Valiant’s lips thinned. “Let’s get this over with.” He inhaled
deeply and rocked on the spot. “If anything goes wrong haul ass out
of here, you hear me? Always live to fight another day.”

“
Nothing’s going wrong.” Zeke held his gaze. “You got
this.”

Valiant grinned to cover his unease then vaulted over the edge
of the roof.

10.

“
I’m not okay with this,” Max declared. When Kali didn’t
respond, he narrowed his eyes in that presumptuous way he knew
irritated the quarks out of her. He contemplated what her flushed
cheeks and sparkly eyes meant. She’d had a dazzled look the whole
day, and kept staring into the middle distance when she was
supposed to be listening to him. “You really like him don’t you?”
In Max’s mind that meant there was something to be worried about.
If there was anything he’d learnt, Kali attracted trouble like a
magnet. “Of all the people to fool around with you pick Blue
Erikson? He works with me at Pluto’s, and he’s … well that’s just
it. I don’t know that much about him. I can never remember anything
other than he has some funky enhancements. That is warning enough.
Yeah. You shouldn’t go.”

Kali tapped her bottom lip, making sure it looked rosy and
plump. “I like his enhancements.”

Max’s argument was soaring way over her head. Yes, Blue’s
cosmetic morphs were a little startling and difficult to avoid
staring at, so what? He was dangerously attractive in a seraphic
way. Was silent yet intense. Strong. Something within him
compelled. She did not see his uniqueness as something to avoid or
be afraid of.

For what seemed the thousandth time, Kali checked herself over
in the five-foot hallway VidSee.

One thing she was proud not to have hang-ups about was her
body. It was the definition of hourglass. All she had to do was
wear clean lines and complimentary colours to look good. Kali wore
a knee-length manila tunic that moulded to her small waist and
flared hips. The scooped-neck showed off her broad shoulders and
graceful neck. Underneath she wore black leggings that tucked into
chunky moon boots. The clothes regulated body temperature and
offered protection from traces of radiation that occasionally got
past the decontamination checkpoints. The dusky colours made Kali’s
skin glow and offset the golden tones. Humming to herself, she
looped the specially made holes on her long sleeves over her
thumbs, and pulled on a sleeveless cloak that reached her
ankles.

Max gaped. “You’re wearing your cloak?”

“
Looks good on me, doesn’t it?” Snorting, she adjusted the deep
hood so it fell across her shoulders and back. “I wish I got to
wear it more.”

“
The Virgin help us, she’s not hearing me.” He rubbed his face.
“I’ve tried to be nice, but subtly isn’t working. Time for tough
love.”

“
Declaring you don’t approve of my choice and saying outright
that I shouldn’t go on this date is subtle to you?”

“
His genetics are fuxed, Kal. It’s painfully
obvious.”

“
And I’m caring about that because…?”

“
You can’t see this as a potential match. I thought you were
just having some fun, but–”

“
But what, Maximilian August Vox the Third?” She turned to face
him, body stiff. “You date LoCaste girls all the time.”

“
Yeah, but even if I thought one might be the girl for me, I
would never bring her home to meet my mother, or consider giving
her my family name.”

“
I can’t believe you said that out loud.”

“
It’s the reality of who we are. I know it’s bad, but your
social standing compared to his is too different. Our Caste will
never see him as equal, will never accept you if you
do–”

“
Accept me? Look at me, Max.” In a society that pandered to the
old age dictum that pale porcelain skin equalled wealth and beauty,
she was a colourful splash of genetic disharmony that contradicted
everything they believed in. Her prominent Delphi genes demoted her
LoCaste, but her adoptive family made her the most eligible
debutant the Alliance had to offer. Most girls of similar standing
had droves of engagement requests by the time they received their
adulthood licence. Despite her rich prospects, Kali had none. “They
don’t accept me, and never will because of something I can’t
change. Guess what? I don’t give a quark anymore.”