Cosmic Bliss (13 page)

“Knives and to the death!” Acia yelled back.

Shunyuan jerked her back as she attempted to stand. “No.”

“Yes. This has gone on long enough. Ten years of our lives we’ve
been nipping at them and then running. She wants me. I want her too.” Acia
pulled her arm out of his hand. “Besides, the fight is all I have. I have no
mate.”

She took advantage of his shock and stood. Zon’a was walking
casually into the yard area. She watched as Zon’a pulled her skirt off and
unstrapped her blasters. The woman was now dressed in boots, a fur vest and
panties. Acia waited a moment longer before she unstrapped her own weapons.
Acia wanted Zon’a to understand she didn’t trust her.

Shunyuan stood and moved toward Zon’a with Acia. He took
each of Acia’s weapons as she removed them and then passed her his knife. He
stepped back without another word.

“We are searching the forest for her guards,” Cheris said
through the communicator.

She didn’t respond, preferring Zon’a be ignorant of their
plans. Acia wouldn’t wait for the older woman to attack first. Zon’a was
stronger and bigger. But she wasn’t faster.

Acia slid her hand slowly into one of the hidden
compartments in her pants. Five impossibly thin throwing stars rested in a
custom sheath. She pulled them free slowly and easily with her fingertips,
freed her hand and in rapid succession threw them at the alien woman. The stars
made contact where they would be most effective—in the eye, throat, shoulder,
wrist and knee. The other woman screamed in rage as she pulled the stars from
every body part but her eye. Blood splattered from the wounds.

Acia had studied Gastronian physiology. When she fought one
of the hated species she wanted to make the greatest impact possible. The
wounds wouldn’t kill the woman. They would limit her movement and make her
slower. Acia rolled to the balls of her feet. She knew what was coming.
Gastronians were all force and no finesse. Acia palmed a dagger in each hand. They
were her best daggers with flowers embossed on the handles.

Zon’a yelled at the top of her lungs and then ran at Acia,
dagger in hand. Acia waited. She sidestepped to the left and dodged the wide
swing of the other woman’s knife while kicking out her foot. She easily tripped
the woman. As Zon’a was falling, Acia twisted and brought both fists and dagger
hilts down on the vulnerable base of the woman’s neck.

Dust billowed in the air as Zon’a hit the ground. Acia
didn’t let up. She slashed, kicked and punched the struggling woman. Zon’a
rolled onto her back and managed to kick Acia in the stomach, forcing her back.
Acia shook her head rapidly in an attempt to work through the pain. Zon’a
lumbered to her feet and punched Acia in the face. Pain exploded through Acia’s
head.

Acia blocked the next two punches but missed the block for
the knife swipe against her ribs. She danced back out of the way, staying just
ahead of Zon’a and her wild but painful slices and punches. Zon’a was tiring,
but Acia had just recovered from a blaster wound. She wasn’t at optimum speed.

“Stop playing with her, Acia, and finish her,” Shunyuan
called. He sounded exasperated.

Acia looked at the panting woman in front of her who was
more than twice her size. She smiled. The man acted as though Acia was the
biggest badass ever. It was sexy as hell.

Acia feinted left, avoiding a meaty fist, and then used the
hilt of her dagger to punch the throwing star still lodged in Zon’a’s eye. The
other woman screamed. Acia pressed her advantage, she sliced every wound she
had already given Zon’a then leaped out of the way before the other woman could
inflict any more pain. Acia switched both daggers to her left hand and reached
for the throwing knife strapped to her thigh and palmed it.

She wasn’t as good with this knife. It was heavier and there
was a trick to get the aim true, but once the knife sank into flesh, it was
murder to get out. Thanks to her Gastronian physiology, Zon’a would be most
vulnerable in the center of her forehead or the center of her breastbone. Acia
took a deep breath and threw the knife. It landed in the center of her chest.

Zon’a stopped with her arm raised to throw her own weapon at
Acia. She staggered backward then fell. Acia stood there for a moment, chest
heaving. There was no way the Gastronian had survived a direct hit to her
heart. She walked over to the woman slowly, aware of Shunyuan doing the same.
Acia checked the artery in Zon’a’s neck.

“Dead?” Shunyuan asked.

“Definitely.”

He pulled the blade from Zon’a’s chest and wiped it on the
woman’s clothes. Shunyuan passed it to her, handle first.

“Good blade. You don’t want to leave it.”

She took it and looked up at him.

“You did good, warrior woman.” He pulled her closer with his
arm around her shoulders.

She smiled at his praise, allowing her delight with him to
spread through her. A Dovian man would have been horrified by her affinity with
fighting and death. Too bad she wasn’t keeping Shunyuan. The thought sobered
her and she pulled away from him.

“Cheris, have you found the guards?” She used the
communicator to talk to her second.

“We’ve handled the problem. Our search hasn’t uncovered any
new signs of intruders.”

“Good. Cleanup time.”

“Are you sure you want to contaminate your soil by burying
them?” Shunyuan asked.

He stood next to a corpse and pushed it over with his foot.

“We burn the dead here. I’m sure if we make the fire hot
enough, we can burn away anything that would offend Dovana.”

It took them until nightfall to erase all traces of the Gastronians.
Once they were sure the fire was properly doused, Shunyuan watched Acia stand
in her decimated garden and contemplate her ravaged home.

“I wouldn’t want to go inside either,” he said.

She didn’t look at him. “I can clean it. I don’t want to go
inside tonight. Would you mind sleeping outdoors?”

“No, I don’t mind.” He waited for her to look at him. She
had been avoiding his gaze ever since she’d made the announcement that all she
had in her life was fighting because she had no mate.

The comment had cut him deeper than he’d thought possible.

He hadn’t wanted her to fight. He knew she was cunning,
extraordinarily so, but the Gastronian outweighed her by what had to be at
least a hundred pounds. Blasters and modified battlesuits were one thing, hand-to-hand
combat was another. He’d known real fear. All he could think was he wouldn’t
lose her as he’d almost lost her on the slave barge.

Right then he’d known whatever bond they shared had become
cemented. He understood in the minute he’d crouched and attempted to pull her
to safety that whatever he felt for her went beyond the bond created by her
Dovian physiology. He loved her. She was strong. He wouldn’t have to worry
about leaving her behind on missions. His worry would be keeping up with her.

He’d tamped down on the link so none of his feelings of fear
and love would seep through. She’d needed a clear head to deal with the
Gastronian behemoth. He’d allowed her to walk out to meet her childhood
tormenter. He wasn’t going to let her get killed though. He held a blaster on
the other woman at all times. Any sign of trickery or hint Acia couldn’t handle
the situation and the green bitch would have gotten a hole in her skull.

But Acia hadn’t needed him. He’d known it from the moment
she had hit Zon’a with the throwing stars. Acia fought smart. The other woman
hadn’t. Sure Zon’a landed a few punches and slices with her knife, which should
be giving Acia real pain now, but the woman had been slow and Acia was
superfast. He was proud of her.

His mate looked dead on her feet. He went inside the cottage
in search of soap. When he returned he picked her up and cradled her in his
arms.

“No.” The set of her mouth could only be described as
mulish.

He headed off in the direction where they had their picnic
earlier. There was a pond there and though the water was orange he was willing
to bet it could wash off the ash from the funeral fire and blood.

“You’re tired and you kicked ass. You deserve to be carried.
It isn’t far to your pond.” Shunyuan kissed the top of her head.

She sighed loudly and deeply. “Shunyuan, I don’t want to do
this.”

“Do what? Take a bath? You need one and so do I.”

She lay rigidly in his arms. The walk was shorter than he’d
remembered. He set her on her feet and looked around for the basket they’d
hidden earlier. He looked up at the two moons in the sky. It was almost as
bright as daylight.

When he found the basket he laid out the quilt and began to
discard his clothing. He watched Acia. She stood with her arms folded over her
chest and her face turned slightly away. As he disrobed, he noticed her eyes
strayed to his body and her breathing picked up. Naked he turned her to face
him and stripped her over her protests. Considering she was still fully armed
and he wasn’t cut, stabbed or punctured, he understood she didn’t want to hurt
him. To hear her speak about mates, hurting him had probably never occurred to
her.

He palmed the soap, which was colorful, like everything else
on the planet. With his other hand he entwined their fingers. She held her hand
loosely within his, but he watched the pulse at her throat beat rapidly. He
smiled and pulled her gently but firmly in to the water.

The water was warm and he waded in until it covered the
lower portion of her breasts, leaving the modest upper slope above water. Her
nipples hardened and she leaned toward him before biting her lower lip and
taking a step back.

He washed her thoroughly, paying special attention to her
erogenous zones. He brushed the back of her neck lightly with his fingertips.
He soaped her hair, removing all traces of blood and grime.

When her body was completely pliant he stepped away to bathe
himself quickly and then threw the soap to shore. Acia slipped below the
surface of the water and rinsed her hair. It fanned out in the water. The red
of her hair showed as bright as flame in the pale-apricot water.

She emerged slowly, breaking the surface of the lake. The
moonlight hit the beads of water on her skin, highlighting and amplifying its
brilliancy.

“You’re beautiful, starlight,” he whispered.

She turned her head to the side and looked up at him with
pale-violet eyes and it hit him in the gut. This was his Acia. She drew blood
and killed aliens one moment and was soft and vulnerable the next. The duality
of her nature was irresistible. He reached out and caressed her shoulders,
pulling her closer.

“Shunyuan, I’m not sure—”

“Shh, don’t think so much. What do you want?” His lips
caressed the corner of her mouth.

“I…”

Her breath was warm against his face and his already
straining cock twitched in eagerness.

“What do you want?” He pulled her tighter and added a note
of command to his voice. She responded immediately, moving closer and releasing
a long moan.

“You know I want you. I only want you.”

“That’s it, starlight.”

He slid his hands down her back and cupped her ass. He
lifted her and claimed her mouth. He felt her desperation through the kiss. She
wrapped one arm around his neck and reached with the other to position his
cock. She lowered herself slowly and paused when she’d seated herself to the
hilt.

He thrust and she matched his rhythm. He powered through the
block she’d placed on her end of the link. Acia gasped. He desired to feel
everything she felt when they were together. Shunyuan kept their link wide
open, pushing the feelings of tenderness and lust along their bond. He never
separated their mouths even when they slowed the frenzy of the urgent kiss.
Their mouths remained close so he could catch every gasp emerging from her
lips.

He clutched her ass with one hand as he thrust steadily
faster and with more force. With his other hand he teased her swollen clitoris.
When she climaxed he was so deep into the link he went with her. Pleasure
glided back and forth between them, the euphoria climbing higher and higher.

He remained standing, but barely. Shunyuan waited until he
could feel his legs before he waded slowly to shore. Acia’s forehead rested
inside the crook of his neck.

The trials of the day along with their exultant coupling had
exhausted her. She was asleep. Shunyuan lay down on the quilt with Acia still
clutched to him. He pulled the other half of the covering over them both and
kissed her cheek. Then he joined her in slumber.

* * * * *

Acia awoke to Simer, Dovia’s sun, beaming down on them. She
glanced at Shunyuan. He slept peacefully. She rose to her hands and knees
slowly and eased backward. She kept a tight hold on her end of the link. He
didn’t stir. She looked at her dirty and bloody clothes and shuddered at the
thought of wearing them over her clean body.

Acia stood, turned and ran. The blades of grass felt
familiar under her feet. She hadn’t run barefoot over Dovian soil and grass
since being stolen from Dovia as a child. Her mind attempted to slow her
progress and send her back to the side of her sleeping mate. She pumped her
arms faster and increased her speed.

She wasn’t running away from Shunyuan, exactly. She just
needed time. She definitely needed time before she could be dumb enough to take
her own mate to live on another planet. Especially when she wouldn’t be living
there too.

When she reached her cottage, she went immediately inside to
locate clothing for herself. She found a shirt and a pair of pants the
Gastronian marauders hadn’t ripped to shreds. When she finished dressing she
dragged four targets outside and placed them on posts. Target practice with her
knives would clear her head and relieve some of the aggression she felt.

The coolness of the blades against her fingers was soothing.
She didn’t need to concentrate, muscle memory guided the line of her arm and
hand as she raised and released each knife. If he loved her he wouldn’t
continue to take her body so tenderly, so forcefully she could feel it in her
soul when he planned to walk away. He couldn’t love her and leave her.

It was her fault as well. She should have listened when he
told her he couldn’t and wouldn’t keep her. He’d told her he wasn’t her mate
and didn’t want to be. Her belief in the right of every Dovian to their mate
had blinded her. She’d stubbornly hoped to bind him to her. She’d failed. The
last knife thudded against the target and she walked over to retrieve them.

She tightened her fists as she sensed him near her. “Acia,
did you come back here naked?”

She glanced up then quickly back to where she was pulling
throwing daggers from a target. She felt the burn of tears behind her eyes and
quickly dug her nails into her free hand. It hurt to look at him. To her, he
was perfect. He was hers and she was his. It pained her to know she would
always think so even when he was long gone.

He wore only his pants and boots. Shunyuan dropped the
basket and the rest of their clothing. “Acia?”

She walked back to her starting place and began throwing the
daggers again. “I don’t want to talk right now, Shunyuan. Let me calm myself
and then we can discuss getting you back to your home world.” She threw her
last dagger with extra force and the entire target and pole shook.

Acia walked forward to collect her weapons, but Shunyuan
beat her to the pole and blocked her way. She halted and held her hands up as
she backed away. If he managed to touch her it was over. She would surrender
her anger and then have nothing to cut the despair of his departure.

“What is going on, Acia?”

Finally she looked him in the eyes. “Am I supposed to be
happy?”

“Acia—”

“No, you’ve talked and made decisions. You’ve put your
quest, your people and your planet before me. I would leave Dovia for you. I
would find a way to have you and my fight with the Gastronian Empire. Or I
would choose you.”

“I know.”

“You are my mate and,
egu
.” She paused trying to
breathe through the urge to cry. “I’m angry. I wish I was able to harm you, but
I can’t. You standing in front of the target is so tempting.” She was getting
angrier as she spoke.

She couldn’t read his expression and she was in too much pain
to probe their link. Every part of her tingled with the urge to strike out. She
wanted to hurt him as he’d hurt her even as she wanted to reach for him and
hold him to her. She could do neither. He couldn’t belong to her if he didn’t
want to belong. He walked toward her slowly.

“What else do you feel? Tell me everything.” He stood
directly in front of her now.

“You know what? I am valuable. I would make a great mate.
You’re lucky to have me because I love you and I put nothing and no one above
you.” Her fists were gripped tightly at her sides.

“I love you too, Acia.”

His words arrested her anger and she cocked her head to the
side to regard him. Acia didn’t want to hope he was having a change of heart.
She waited for him to continue his sentence with the word
but
and crush
her all over again. She didn’t say anything. She waited. She wouldn’t make it
easy for him.

“I have no intention of going anywhere without my mate,” he
said.

Her heart lurched and she took a step closer to Shunyuan.
“What did you say?”

Shunyuan reached for her and lifted her up. She
instinctively wrapped her legs around his waist and her hands around the back
of his neck. She held her breath, waiting for him to speak. Her body tensed in
anticipation.

“I can’t live without you, starlight.”

She almost lost her grip on his neck. “We’re going to stay
together?”

“Yep. We can kick ass together. I’m sure there is still a
way I can help Earth.” Shunyuan kissed her deeply.

Acia pulled away. “Anit.”

“You want to run that by me again. Did you just call that
scurvy pirate’s name while I was kissing you?”

“No. Well, yes, but I just remembered Captain Anit said they
had contacts and were feeding tech to Earth rebels. He could help us.” Acia was
really excited now.

“Hmm.” He looked skeptical.

“Shunyuan, remember how efficient it was to have three ships
attack the pleasure barge? I mean, before I was blasted.” She felt the shiver
pass through his body.

“We are really going to sit down and talk about this problem
you have with danger. It isn’t just you anymore. We’re a family,” he said.

She hugged him tight. She understood what he was saying.
There was no one in the United Universe who could mean more to her than
Shunyuan. They would be everything to each other now. She’d been waiting her
entire life for this moment and hadn’t even known it.

She did what she had been scared to do to this point. She
opened the link between them. He was joyous and it zinged through their link,
warming her. She felt the love flowing toward her mixing with her love for him
and sealing their bond.

“Shunyuan, I love you so much.”

He kissed her fiercely.

“No matter what we have to do, we’ll make this work, Acia.
We’re perfect for each other.”

Acia thought of Shunyuan telling her to quit playing with
Zon’a and finish her. She didn’t think there was another man in the universe
who wouldn’t want her to be traditionally Dovian and give up who she was. She
was Shunyuan’s mate and he was hers. As she clutched him close she realized she
would never be anything less.