Shiver (20 page)

The small town of Grit lay on the outskirts of the main city of Clash. Clash was dominated by an outrageous amount of ancient stone ruins and temples, all kept in pristine condition. The aerial shots Colt had shown them back on the ship also illustrated a huge market situated between this town and the Clash Arena, though there weren’t any shots of the barbaric pit. It was hidden underground with the main entrance located in one of the many temples.

Maine had ensured that all the temples were highly guarded, and unless you were invited, there was no way to stumble into the arena. It was conveniently located in the southern part of the planet, where many a god and goddess were cherished. The northern part of the planet of Fray, a segregated stretch of icy land, could be a wasteland for all he knew.

“Ace.” Brynn waved a hand in front of his face.

“Huh?”

“You just seem to be looking at her as if you—”

“He’s looking at her because he probably wants to get to know her…naked,” Colt said with a laugh.

Ace looked over his shoulder. Everyone seemed to be hanging on the singer’s every word. “I don’t think there’s a man in here who isn’t thinking the same thing.”

“But is she looking back at any of
them?
I can see her staring at you right now,” Brynn teased.

Ace looked up and found those dark brown eyes on him, but the woman glanced away as she waited for the piano to start up again. When it did, she swayed her hips to the rhythm of a new song, lending it another dose of sensuality.

Ace couldn’t help but think about her moving beneath him. How good it would feel to have her writhing because of his touch. Oh hell, Colt was right.

“I think I know what he means now,” Colt said.

Brynn smacked him on the back of the head.

“What? I’m just saying…”

Brynn rolled her eyes and moved a little closer to both of them, hovering over the round table and looking around suspiciously in case anyone was listening. “I think it was a great idea to stop in here. The more people who see us, the easier it will make it to blend in while we’re trying to locate the arena.”

Colt nodded.

They’d gotten the Clash Arena co-ordinates from Maine’s ship and intended to use them to make their way inside. Only one of them would fly right in. The other two had to get inside by foot. It was the only safe way to ambush the place. They’d have to dismantle it one piece at a time because as soon as Jenks Maine’s people realized someone else had hijacked and landed his ship within their secure walls, all hell would break loose. If they planned this just right, which could take a few days of hanging around the outskirts of town before venturing farther in, everything would come together.

At least, that’s what they were hoping. Ace personally thought their plan needed a good dose of enhancement. Three people sneaking in wouldn’t be enough if they didn’t time everything perfectly. Yet, he seemed to be the only one with doubts.

“I also think we should do whatever we can to blend in,” Brynn added. “We could all meet around the back in say…an hour. See what we can find out by chatting to some people, eavesdropping on others. Someone’s bound to know something.”

“I’m not splitting up. You and I can deal with this together.”

“Colt, don’t be a chauvinistic pig. You know I can take care of myself. I’ve handled much more dangerous men than anyone in here.” Her blue eyes were dark and threatening as she peered over both shoulders with a frown. “If you’re really committed to tearing down that barbaric place, we have to do this. I can’t scout the area with you on my back. I need to seem available.”

Colt wound his hand around her wrist and pulled her closer, staring her in the eye. “I don’t want you to
seem
available to any of this scum. I can practically read what they want to do to you already.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Don’t tell me you can’t feel their eyes following you around. In case you haven’t noticed, the majority of the population in here is male.” Colt’s eyes narrowed. “Between you and the singer, there aren’t enough women to satisfy their hungry eyes.”

Ace had to agree with him there. He’d noticed how many men littered the place, and not all of them were humanoid. Still, it didn’t make a difference. In this galaxy, if a race wasn’t sexually compatible with another, they could always take the woman and sell her off. It was a very popular trade, and lined the pockets of many. He wouldn’t be surprised if Maine himself traded women in this way, though he seemed to have a tendency to keep them.

“Colt, don’t be difficult,” Brynn continued.

Ace sighed in frustration. He could understand Colt’s concern, but he’d look out for Brynn too. Even if he had enough faith in her to believe she could take care of herself. Still, she’d be safer with the two of them on the lookout. “You’re not going to look available to anyone tonight,” Ace said. “Everyone’s already seen the big cowboy all over you. If you try to gather any info now, it’s just going to look suspicious.”

After a moment’s pause, she nodded. “Shit, you’re right. I didn’t think of that. What should we do then?”

Ace glanced at the singing beauty, and then turned back to the woman he’d been fantasizing about until they’d finally left the claustrophobic confines of
Stallion II.
“I think we should take it easy. Grab a few drinks, enjoy the entertainment and come back tomorrow night. A backwater town like this one is bound to attract a variety of locals each night. Some might already be too drunk to remember us next time, anyway.”

Besides, he wasn’t ready to leave yet. Not until he at least got a name.

Colt nodded and reluctantly released Brynn. “I think he’s right. Let’s enjoy the night and tomorrow we start the real work. It was a long trip. I need to stretch my legs.”

Ace bit his tongue to stop from stating that maybe what he needed a break from was stretching another body part. Instead, he got as comfortable as he could on the chair and continued to enjoy the view.

The beauty caught his eye and smiled.

“I’m going to get us all a round of beers,” Colt announced.

“You do that, we’ll be right here,” Brynn said.

The crowd clapped once again and watched in awe as the singing beauty bowed and made her way off the stage.

“Ladies and gents, please thank the stunning Ely.” A small man motioned for them to raise the volume of their applause, and Ace found himself whistling along with the other guys packed inside this hazy bar.

Before Ely exited the stage, she looked his way once and then ducked behind the side curtain.

What he wouldn’t give to follow her back there.

“I think she likes you.”

He turned back to Brynn, who was sporting a wide smile. The tease in her blue eyes made them twinkle in the dim light. “Are you talking about the singer?”

She nodded and pressed her chin against her propped-up hands. “I think you like her too.”

“And I think we’re starting to sound like a bunch of kids playing silly games. We’re not kids, and the game we’re here to play is deadly serious.” He wasn’t sure where
that
had come from—maybe it was the truth, or it could simply be his attempt to defensively shift the conversation in a different, more comfortable direction.

“Wow, you really do like her.”

“I didn’t say that.” Although he couldn’t keep from looking at the curtain, hoping she would return.

Brynn sat back and shrugged, crossing her arms under her chest. “You don’t have to. I saw the way you looked at her. And since when does a person on any stage concentrate on one particular guy in the audience unless they want something too? Besides, she’s hot. You know you want her.”

“Stop it.”

His outburst only made her laugh harder.

“Brynn!”

She stuck her tongue out at him and pointed at the bar. “Hey, I think Colt needs your help.”

“Why would he need my help? He’s a big man, he can handle himself. I’m sure a few beers won’t give him any trouble.”

Brynn grabbed his hand and yanked on it, pulling him closer and across the table. He was relieved to realize her touch didn’t make him hot and sweaty. “Don’t be such an idiot, of course he doesn’t need your help but the hot chick just made her way to the bar. Go and buy her a drink. Here, it’s on me.” She tucked a gold coin into his palm and closed his fingers around it. “Go on.”

He shook his head, smiled at the absurdity of her pathetic attempt at matchmaking, and pushed the chair back. Had she figured out his frustration? Maybe Brynn had noticed his stares and just hadn’t said anything about it.

Ace stood up, took a deep breath and headed for the bar. Even though deep down inside he knew that as soon as Colt found out he’d left Brynn all alone at the table, he’d be pissed.

Just when he was within reach of the gorgeous woman and knew exactly what he was going to say, Colt’s raucous voice distracted him. He seemed to be arguing with a man seated on a stool at the bar.

Don’t get into a fight now, not now. Just give me a few more minutes to…

Too late. All he got the chance to do was smile at Ely. She caught his approach and turned to face him a second before Colt smashed his fist into the man’s face. Blood spurted and the man tumbled off his stool.

A second man responded with a kick to Colt’s stomach. The cowboy fell back against the bar, taking a few seconds to right himself.

For a man who hated killing, it hadn’t taken him long to get into this fight.

Ace looked at the woman he now knew by name and opened his mouth to say something, when someone grabbed him by the back of the shirt. His hat flew off his head as he whipped around quickly, kicking his feet low and ducking out of a third man’s punch. Ace shoved him aside with a fist to the face, sending him flying across the bar until he hit the other side of the wall and slid down to his ass.

When he turned back, Ely wasn’t there anymore.

She’s the one who got away. Now she’s uncharted territory…

Solar Storm

© 2013 Mina Carter

Ten years after her rich-girl life fell apart, Rhys Devin is a changed woman—her name, her face, and her attitude. Now the fast-talking, hard-as-nails captain of the Grey Lady sails the most dangerous solar roads in the universe. Times are tough, but she gets the job done, sailing alone. Always watching over her shoulder.

The last thing she needs is a delay, but when she runs across a stranded sailor, she has no choice. The law of the road demands she rescue him.

Kelwin Sayeed is a soldier without a war. The retired War Commander’s latest and most ambitious hobby, the solar flyer Artemis, was supposed to prove him worthy of the famously reclusive Solar Sailors. Instead a catastrophic computer failure has him at the mercy of the most hazardous road of all: Icaria.
 

Confident he won’t be left to die in the golden spray, he waits for another sailor to come along. One that’s born and bred to the roads, with skin wizened like beaten gold. What he gets is a woman whose voice does things to his body that should be illegal. Whose golden-tinted skin sparks erotic fantasies.

The bride who ran from him a decade ago…

Warning: Contains a self re-invented woman with a low tolerance for B.S. and a tendency to snark, a hot former soldier with a brutal approach to protecting what’s his, and a solar-kissed romance that spans years.

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Solar Storm:

“Oh, you have to be kidding me. Justice is so, so sweet!”

Nerys grinned broadly as the Grey Lady reached the top of a rise, revealing the star-scape laid out in all its glorious detail below her. Just ahead, at the bottom of the incline, was the sleek yacht that had cut her off earlier. Caught in one of the side-shears Icaria loved to throw at the over-confident, it was being dragged relentlessly from the road and into the blackness beyond.

She hovered on the brink of the rise for a second, the bulk of the Lady casting a shadow on the rolling swell before the ship crashed down. Golden vapor splashed up around her hull to curl lovingly against the shield-strengthened glass of the upper decks.

“Just had to push it, didn’t you?”

She clicked her tongue against her teeth in disapproval. She should have known this guy would get into trouble. He was flashy, arrogant and entirely too cocky to be allowed on Icaria…hell, any road, without lead reins.

“Well, look at where it got you now. Pretty little sails’ll never get you out of that, will they?”

Her expert eye skimmed over the shear he was caught in as she pulled alongside. A Class Two without undertow. It was nothing the Lady couldn’t pull out of with her heavy-duty tri-sails, but fancy-pants flyer over there didn’t have a chance with those dinky little quads. His sails were designed for speed, not heavy work, and certainly not for dragging a ship out of the crap.

“This is the Grey Lady to…” She paused and tilted her head to read the name written on the hull. Artemis? She huffed in surprise. Unusual name for a ship. Sounded Old Terran.

“This is the Grey Lady to the Artemis. Looks like you need a bit of a hand there.”