Salvaged Destiny (25 page)

There were several parcels in the chiller—a bowl of cut-up
fruit, roasted beets, mixed greens, cheeses, olives and peppers, quinoa
patties, a bottle of juice and two bottles of wine. There was a loaf of bread
on the counter, a bag of pistachio cookies and another bottle of wine. What did
Dee Dee think she would do, drink herself into a stupor on her first evening
off in weeks? This was easily twice as much food as she usually got.

Del decided to take a long bath in Lazlo’s lovely tub. Her
self-imposed separation from most of Lazlo’s furnishings hadn’t stopped her
from enjoying the bathroom’s amenities. A glass of wine while she bathed would
be pleasant. As she contemplated this luxury, the door chimed and Del tensed
and went cold. She knew what she had to do. If it was Avo Kirk, Lazlo’s
instructions had been quite clear. First confirm identity, immediately alert
security and call Arturo Yee. And she was not to open the door no matter what
the incentive or threat.

The door buzzed again and Silly Bill started to march over
to it but Del picked the bot up and held the quivering little thing as she went
to the vid monitor to see who was there. At first, all she saw was a view of a
wide chest in a dark-blue jacket, then the chest sank and she saw a man’s neck
and a short beard and then Lazlo’s face.
Lazlo. On Sayre.

Knees wobbly, Del stood there for a moment, unsure if she
was really seeing him or if she had gone into some sort of strange wishful-thinking
fantasy. Maybe having the afternoon off was making her crazy. His very-missed
voice crackled over the vid.

“Hi, Del. Are you going to let me in?”

No.
“Yes.”

Trying to breathe, Del scrabbled for the high security
doorcode, which meant she had to manually enter an extra sequence to get it to
open. She mis-keyed it twice and cursed loudly before taking a deep breath and
trying one more time.

With a chime and a huff, the door opened and Lazlo was
stepping in, a huge smile on his bearded face and his arms reaching for her.
Del flung herself at him. Her breath left in a gust and then all she could feel
was him, impossibly solid and with her and she didn’t know what to do next.

Lazlo knew what to do, as he always did. He squeezed her
tight, whispered in her ear that he’d missed her, that she was beautiful, that he
was going to keep her safe.

Silly Bill’s quivering and twisting in Del’s hand finally
got her attention enough to move away from Lazlo, but not far. She still wanted
to touch him and smell him and see him and believe the impossible that he was
there.

“Hi,” Lazlo said again, keeping hold of her waist as she
placed Silly Bill on the wall where it clung and emitted loud chimes.

“Why is it doing that?” Del asked, perplexed, somehow
distracted from Lazlo’s warm presence to notice the tiny bot’s antics.

“Oh it’s programmed to recognize me.” Lazlo turned his head
and barked at the little machine. “Acknowledged!”

Silly Bill quieted, climbing to the edge of a digima hanging
on the wall to take its favorite perch, shiny little sensors whirring.

“What are you doing here?” Del breathed as she touched his
face. Lazlo kissed her fingertips whenever they strayed close to his lips and
Del shivered. His whiskey-colored eyes were soft as he watched her and Del
wanted to melt into his body so she’d never have to stop touching him.

“I live here.”

“But you’re gone,” Del stuttered, feeling foolish and happy.
And entirely confused.

“I told you I was coming back and here I am.” Lazlo looked
smug, or as smug as he could while supporting her whole body as she clung to
him.

The duffle Lazlo had slung over his shoulder thumped to the
floor as he shifted his grip to circle his hands to her bottom and lift her up
high enough to kiss.

His first touches were light, too light for the surge of
excitement that filled Del, so she reached up to lock her arms around his neck
and pull him tight for a deeper caress. His mouth opened to her and she
relished every movement of his tongue and lips against her own. Yes, that was
definitely him. Little tickles from his beard lit up her skin. Every molecule
in her body was singing.

“I should go.” She wondered why she’d said it as soon as the
words left her mouth. Lazlo stopped his caresses with a jerk and pulled his
face away from her neck to stare at her, his eyes narrowed as he frowned.

“No you shouldn’t. Why would you leave?”

“This is your apartment. I’m intruding.” Del kept talking,
shifting her arms to push at him in an attempt to extricate herself from his
tightening grip. It was like trying to escape a warm band of flexsteel. “Besides,
Avo Kirk hasn’t done anything since that restraining order went through. I can
go to the barracks and get a room there. There
is
a security bot at the
door.”

Lazlo shook his head and shifted his grip on her body to
capture her hands. Del took a step back from him, feeling cold as soon as she
stopped touching him. This was so difficult—to see him, taste him again, and
know that she had to put distance between them.

“Those security bots are ineffective against a determined
invader. I know. I program them.”

“I’m not sure how determined Avo is. I mean, how threatening
are flowers and chocolates? I think we all overreacted to them.” By now she was
standing at arm’s length from him and feeling more and more miserable the
longer they touched. Lazlo took a step her way and she stumbled back into the
wall, Silly Bill chiming next to her ear.

“Del, why are you doing this?”

“Because you’re here and I should go.” She took a breath and
tried to be decisive. “Let me go.”

Lazlo immediately dropped his hands from hers and then
placed his fists on his hips as he stared at her. “Are you telling me you aren’t
happy to see me?”

“Of course I’m happy to see you. But we aren’t, this isn’t—”
She broke off because he knew very well they weren’t involved with each other. They’d
both agreed to that, very definitively.

“Oh it’s that damn agreement, isn’t it? Well, I’ve decided I
don’t like that agreement anymore, Delphine.”

“Why not? It’s perfectly good.” Now she felt capable of
confronting him since he wasn’t touching her and making her quivery.

“No. It’s perfectly awful and you know it.”

Del sucked in a breath, stunned by the frustration shaking
in Lazlo’s voice. So that was it—he didn’t want to see her again. He must be
here to pack up his belongings and head off to a new planet. He’d only kissed
her in a reflex action.

“Right. So you’re here to get your things. I told you I’d do
that for you and ship them to your next assignment. It’s the least I can do to
thank you. I know some stevedores at the dock who can help get your shipment
expedited.”

Del busied herself with thinking about the work she could do
and where to get some packing boxes rather than notice how bad her chest was
hurting. Stars, she wanted to cry now. If only she hadn’t been here when he
arrived, she wouldn’t have to be seeing him now. Why had Dee Dee given her the
afternoon off? It was the worst possible timing. But she had to push through.

“What in Nebula’s Balls are you talking about?”

“Trying to help you go.”

“Why would you try to help me go when I just got here?”
Lazlo shook his head again as if he couldn’t understand something. Del couldn’t
think what to say in response so she just shrugged, nudging Silly Bill in the process.
The bot tinkled out a pleasant chime and continued to monitor this inexplicable
situation.

“Del. Listen. I need to explain—”

“No you don’t. I understand.” She swallowed against the lump
rising in her throat. From the first, she’d known he’d leave. She’d just never
thought she’d be helping him pack. “Come on, let’s decide where to start.”

“I’m not packing anything.” Lazlo crossed his arms across
his chest and tightened his lips as he stared at her. “No, that’s not true. We
have lots to pack, but not here.”

Del was confused. He had a storage unit somewhere? “Where?
How much? When is your flight out?”

“I’m not going anywhere, Del.
You
are.”

“Right. I’m leaving your apartment.”

“No you aren’t.”

Throwing up her hands in confusion, Del stared at the man. What
in the galaxy was he talking about? Maybe he’d gotten his brain scrambled in
the jump. It happened.

Lazlo sucked in a deep breath and stared at his ceiling for
several seconds. “Let’s start this over again. Kiss me.”

“What?”

“Kiss me right now, Del, or so help me I’m going to kiss you
and there’s no telling what will happen.” His eyes were dark and he looked
determined, so rather than argue with a man in the throes of jump fever, she
took two careful steps over to him, raised her hands to his cheeks and lowered
his head so she could press her lips briefly to his. So he wanted a goodbye
kiss.

With a low sound rumbling from his throat, Lazlo swung his
arms around her and pulled her tight to his chest, his mouth moving in slow,
blissful pulls against her lips. She couldn’t catch her breath and her hands
shook against him.

“That’s the kind of kiss I want,” he whispered against her
cheek as his hands curved around her hips and pulled her even tighter. “I want
that kiss every day.”

“Lazlo, why are you making this harder?”

“I’m not. Listen to me, Delphine Browen. I’m not going
anywhere. I requested this posting. Major Sekar used up a lot of favors to get
me back here.”

“Of all the planets, you pick Sayre?” She couldn’t believe
what he was saying. It was inexplicable.

“Don’t you want to kiss me like this every day? Touch each
other like this every day?” Lazlo pulled away so he could watch her face and
she felt as if she were somehow floating away, despite the very definite grip
he had on her body. Del stared in his caramel eyes and felt something hard in
her heart begin to melt. He had come back. She managed a small smile and he
grinned in response.

“Del, we can have meals together and talk about our days and
plant a garden on the terrace. Stay with me.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course I’m sure. I love you.” Lazlo rushed the last
words and looked as surprised as Del felt. Her skin flushed and her vision
blurred for a moment as his words reached her soul. She stared in Lazlo’s kind
brown eyes as he watched her, a slight line between his brows as he waited for
her to react in some way. She shuddered in two breaths as she accepted what
this man had just told her. This good and kind man who had done everything he
could to protect her, encourage her, please her.

Rising up on her toes, she reached for his mouth, catching
him in a soft kiss that went on until the seismic shift in her world seemed to
settle into a new landscape she couldn’t wait to explore.

“I’m sure I love you too.”

“So we are going to say that every day?”

Del nodded in agreement, transfixed by how happy her Lazlo
was—happy above and beyond any state she’d ever seen him.

“There’s something else I want to do with you every day.”
His lips quirked and her thoughts immediately turned to shedding clothing and finding
a better location than right in front of the doorway. His hands began to smooth
up and down her back and she curved against him. “I want you to help me put on
my antifungals. There’s this hard-to-reach spot on my back…”

Lynn Rae is a multi-published romance writer residing in
central Ohio. She has professional experience in fields ranging from contract
archaeology to librarianship with forays into making donuts, selling
ventilation components, and teaching museum studies. Lynn Rae enjoys
incorporating her quirky sense of humor and real-life adventures into her
writing (except the naughty parts).

Lynn welcomes comments from readers. You can find her
website and email addresses on her
author
bio page
at
www.ellorascave.com
.

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Salvaged Destiny

ISBN 9781419990731

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Salvaged Destiny Copyright © 2014 Lynn Rae

Edited by Julie Naughton

Cover design by Dar Albert

Cover photography by Angela Harburn, Vladislav, Gajic,
CURAphotography, Valenty, Kassandra/fotolia.com

Electronic book publication July 2014

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