Forbidden Worlds - Box Set (23 page)

Epilogue

Ten months later

Charity lifted her hands from above the faint bruise on her patient’s lower leg. The child smiled up at her. “It doesn’t hurt anymore, A’Kosu’ka.”

“Good. Now will you let A’Kosu’an put the salve on to reduce the swelling? I promise you that will not hurt either.”

The child nodded, and Charity stepped back from her bedside. Her hands still tingled from the flow of energy she’d accessed to dull the little girl’s pain. With a contented sigh, she transferred the residual Reiki energy to her lower back, massaging the muscles that strained to hold her distended belly.

A warm hand on her shoulder startled her, and she turned to find Kol smiling down at her. “Your shift was over an hour ago. I’ve been waiting.”

Charity laughed and ran her hand over her bond mate’s arm. “Sorry. You know time gets away from me.”

“Yes, but you need your rest. Any day now you’ll be giving birth.”

“Hmm.” Charity raised a skeptical brow. “You keep reminding me, as if I could forget. It’s not every day a human gives birth to an Antarean baby.”

“Not every day, but it could very well be tomorrow.”

A sharp kick from within her taut abdomen seemed to punctuate Kol’s words. Charity let out a whooshing breath. “It could also be tonight. Maybe I should sit down.”

Kol guided her out of the exam room and helped her sit on a low bench in the corridor. “I’ll summon Gia.” His tone took on that hint of worry that she’d become accustomed to hearing ever since A’Kosu’an had confirmed her unlikely pregnancy.

“No, no. I’m all right. It was just a kick. Give me a minute to rest, and we’ll go home.”

“Before that, if you’re up to it, Barok would like to see you. He has some news.”

Chairty stared at her husband. Ever since Antares had won the war with Valencia, every day had brought more encouraging news from the Rim colonies. Charity couldn’t imagine what else Barok could need to tell her. “Why can’t you tell me?” she pleaded. “I don’t think I have the energy to walk all the way to the Great House tonight.”

“Barok will be disappointed that he didn’t get to tell you himself,” Kol winked at her. “But he’ll have to understand, I suppose.”

“Just tell me.”

“Gar Gremin has been overthrown. He’s been jailed on Valencia and his former aides are distributing four metric tons of selenite. The first shipment is slated for Celrax.”

Charity put a hand over the bulge of her belly where Kol’s child rested. She looked away to hide the surge of emotion she felt.

At first she’d felt helpless here on Antares, as though she’d given up her quest to help the people in need on the Rim colonies, but this was more than she could have ever accomplished alone. She sank into her husband’s embrace and thanked the Goddess once again for letting her engines stall over the forest on Lebron.

“When our son is born, we’ll take him to Celrax to see the world of his mother’s people,” Kol said.

Charity turned to face Kol and took his hands in hers. “We won’t have to go that far, Kol. My people are right here.”

THE END

A Novella

By

Bernadette Gardner

This book was previously published

and has not been significantly revised from that printing.

Chapter 1

Nola Rule studied the man at the bar, noting every detail of his appearance, both for her own aesthetic pleasure and for future reference.

Even seated, as he was on one of the free-form acrylic stools, he towered over the bartender. His tanned legs stretched beneath him, perfectly sculpted columns of muscle. His feet, casually bare, were planted firmly on the polished teakwood boards below the bar stool.

Nola dragged her gaze back up, stopping briefly at the tight black swim trunks and the half-dozen ridges of his abdominals. She licked her lips at the bulge barely disguised in his swimsuit. He had all the right equipment, and she relished the thought of discovering just how well he used it.

When he leaned back, laughing at the bartender’s joke and lifting a blood-red drink to his lips, Nola continued her perusal.

Dusky brown nipples tipped his perfectly defined pectorals. The smattering of midnight black curls between them matched the color of the hair on his head. This was slicked back against his skull and still shiny and wet from a recent dip in one of the resort’s six pools.

Tarrant Kane, a former General of Earth-Sec Defenses, was a sight to behold. He wouldn’t be an easy mark, but once Nola had him between her legs, she had no doubt that for once she would thoroughly enjoy her assignment. If only they were all this enticing.

Now, finished with her visual reconnaissance, Nola raised the sunglasses she wore. The silver framed lenses could record a brief video scan of her objective while simultaneously shielding her eyes from the orange glow of Sensuron’s dwarf sun.

Nestled in her own raven tresses, the glasses would transmit a brief and very detailed med scan report back to her handlers at In-Teron. They’d be pleased. Kane looked to be in perfect health, fit and seemingly free of stress. His retirement from the military suited him, though he lacked one thing Nola would have considered a given for a man of his…stature: female companionship. It wasn’t that the women, who outnumbered the men on Sensuron two to one, weren’t looking, but Kane seemed to exude an air of aloofness that gave even the most jaded manhunters the clear message he was out of their league.

This only made Nola’s job easier.

* * * *

Kane sensed her approach even before he saw her. Fifteen years running Earth-Sec had taught him a thing or two about surveillance. Even shielded by thick, dark sunglasses, the weight of her stare reached him from across the room, and he relished it. Most of the women on Sensuron seemed intimidated by him, and he hadn’t yet figured out why. This dark-haired beauty was different. She seemed utterly confident in herself, and that drew his undivided attention immediately.

Unbidden, his military conditioning kicked in. He assessed her as she approached the bar, gauging height, weight, and general build as if she were the enemy. He had to stop thinking like that.

After spending his entire life as a soldier, he’d come to Sensuron to learn how to be a civilian. Now that he had the money and the time to indulge his every fantasy, why couldn’t he stop thinking like a general?

He turned slightly, angling his body to face her as she sidled up to the bar. He made himself take in the details of her appearance the way a wealthy, healthy single tourist would, rather than the way a jaded, career security specialist would.

Her jet black hair hung in soft ringlets down her mostly naked back, just brushing the waistband of a golden yellow thong bikini. The scrap of fabric left her perfectly-shaped ass visible to detailed inspection, and Kane wasn’t the only male in the area who had indulged. The entire resort was crawling with barely dressed females, but this one commanded a much greater percentage of admiring glances.

First, Kane allowed himself a good, long look at her legs. Like most of the women on Sensuron, she wore high-heeled sandals that accentuated her luscious curves. Thin straps wrapped around her calves, and a chain of sparkling platinum links dangled around one finely turned ankle.

She flicked a curtain of hair aside, revealing the equally scant top of her bathing suit. Shimmery triangles of nearly transparent fabric hugged the peaks of her breast, tented by the hard tips of dark nipples.

Her profile was all sensuous curves. A strong chin and patrician nose were softened by a light olive complexion. Unlike most of the wealthy female patrons of Sensuron, she carried just enough weight to give her a very feminine softness. No bony angles or visible ribs detracted from her perfect hourglass shape.

Kane dragged his gaze up to her ruby lips, and for a brief moment he entertained a vision of those lips poised to swallow his cock. A mouth like that was made for one thing…

“What can I get for you, Ms. Rule?” The bartender leaned forward, nearly diving into her generous cleavage. Kane gave him a disapproving look.

On Sensuron, staff members were not allowed to hit on guests.

“I’ll have a Martian Sunrise, with two slices of passion fruit, please.” She didn’t even glance at Kane. Her suddenly stiff posture made him realize it might have been obvious how intently he was staring. Had she noticed he was breathing deeply, taking in the sun-warmed aroma of her glistening skin? He hadn’t expected the scent of a woman to be so intoxicating, and he indulged in a brief glance toward his crotch where his swim trunks had become marginally tighter.

She stood motionless, her chin high and defiant, while the bartender prepared her drink. When he placed the frothy pink concoction on the bar, his eyes again dipped to that sweet valley where Tarrant now planned to spend a good portion of his very first vacation.

“Charge it to my account,” she said, reaching a manicured hand toward the drink.

“Put the lady’s drink on my account. Kane 745,” Tarrant said, seizing the opportunity. He turned to her, meeting her curious gaze. “Perhaps you’d like to join me at a table by the pool?” Smooth, he thought. During the early days of the war, on the rare occasions he’d sought female attention, he’d followed the lead of his regiment and offered to buy the lady a drink. In the outlying colonies, that technique had never failed to get him laid.

Here on Sensuron, his offer earned him a wilting glare. She turned her head very slowly in his direction, and her lips drew into a pucker that made his cock pulse for attention.

Her eyes were amethyst, the color of Sensuron’s sky. They held an odd mixture of amusement and...contempt.

“I’m flattered,” she said in a voice that told him the opposite was true. “But I really didn’t come here to pick up a leering playboy. I can afford my own drinks. Thank you.” She curled her fingers around the stem of the glass and lifted it with a little more force than was necessary. For an instant Kane thought she might hurl it at him, but instead she brought it to her mouth and took a long sip. He nearly came when she licked those lips with a slow swirl of her tongue.

Then she turned her gorgeous back on him and sauntered away, her nearly bare bottom swaying in a way that made every man present drool just a little.

“Hmm.” Kane sat back, torn between dumbfounded shock and unbridled lust. In all the years he’d served Earth-Sec he’d fought in countless battles, won most of them, and limped home from a few. He’d never been shot down with such precision before. He’d also never backed away from such an obvious challenge.

With his target in sight, former General Tarrant Kane began to formulate his battle plan.

* * * *

“Contact established. Phase I complete.” Nola finished her report to In-Teron and tucked the small transmitter into the back of the cosmetic case that sat on the bathroom counter in her luxury bungalow.

She stripped off her bikini and surveyed her body in the full-length mirror that fronted the built-in wardrobe.

She turned halfway, peeking over her shoulder to survey her rear assets.

Kane was definitely an ass man, and he’d liked her mouth, too. In-Teron’s med-scan revealed a significant rise in blood flow to his genitals when he looked at her lips.

The lust-red lipstick was a necessity, but she needed something to enhance her sex appeal just a little more. With so much willing competition around, she couldn’t take the chance that he’d lose interest if she played too hard to get.

Turning down his sloppy come-on had been a calculated risk, one that Nola had taken without hesitation. She needed to pose a challenge to him. If she tumbled into his bed like a common whore, she took the chance he might discard her too quickly. One fuck might not be enough to accomplish her objective.

She had to intrigue him, bait him into considering her a worthy conquest. Rebuffing his advances at the bar probably put a burr in his saddle. A man like Kane didn’t take no for an answer. He’d be primed now, ripe for the next phase of her carefully planned seduction.

Still naked, Nola rummaged through her cosmetic case again and retrieved a silver cylinder. Slim, about the length and width of her little finger, the metallic case bore a warning in bright white letters.

U-4EA was banned on most residential and commercial planets, but on Sensuron they sold the bullet-shaped applicators in the gift shops.

Nola opened the case and surveyed herself in the mirror again. She opted for a spot just above her right shoulder blade. With a metallic click, she applied the dose. A small, round symbol adhered to her skin, resembling a tattoo. When activated by saliva, the compound in the thin layer of skin dye would hyper-sensitize all the sexual receptors in her body and that of her partner, heightening their responses and the enjoyment of any sensual act.

When Kane saw it, he certainly wouldn’t believe she was looking for a quiet, uneventful holiday. Like most men, it would increase his determination to bed her and be the one to reap the benefits of the galaxy’s most powerful aphrodisiac. Despite Kane’s undeniable sex appeal, she never bedded a mark without it. Most of the time, it was all that got her through her assignment.

Nola’s fingers trembled a little as she put the cap back on the applicator. Warmth settled low in her belly, and moisture began to pool in her sex. Sometimes the U-4EA gave the wearer a little pre-sex buzz that felt great, but left one a little edgy. She’d need to take care of it before the night was over and assuage the effects of the compound with the natural endorphins released by a couple of orgasms, or she’d wake with the sexual equivalent of a nasty hangover in the morning.

She had no doubt she could entice Tarrant Kane into her bed—or his. After a few deep breaths to calm her suddenly raging hormones, she reached for her slinkiest black dress.

Time for Phase II.