3013: FATED (8 page)

“I don’t need special treatment,” she said with a negating sweep of her hand.

Dane leaned up against the doorjamb and gave her a look hot enough to melt steel. “For the next few days, why don’t you let us decide what you need, angel?”

No offer had ever sounded so good…or so dangerous.

She opened her mouth with every intention of saying no, but somehow “no” wasn’t the word that left her lips. “Okay.”

The air in the room seemed to rise several degrees as the three of them looked at each other in silence. Finally, Vance nodded and stepped out of Annie’s room, gesturing for Ciara to join him in the hall. “In that case, let us show you where you’re sleeping, then we can give you the rest of the tour and head for the kitchen to eat. No more cafeteria food for you.”

“Thank the stars,” she murmured.

“I wouldn’t say thanks just yet, you haven’t tried Dane’s cooking,” Vance said, ignoring Dane’s outraged expression.

“I cook better than you can. You’re the only doctor I know who has actually made people sick.”

Vance rolled his eyes. “One time. I undercooked the chicken once. Not my fault you have a delicate constitution, you pansy.”

They bickered for the next few minutes, the friendly banter putting Ciara at ease as the intensity of what had passed between them slowly faded into the background…for now.

***

CHAPTER SIX

Ciara hadn’t been sure what to expect the next day, and she’d come down to breakfast with a nervous flutter in her belly. They’d scrounged up a few more clothes for her, and she’d been happy to don an over-large sweater to go with the too-long pants she’d borrowed from Alayna. What they lacked in fashion, they more than made up for in comfort. She left her feet bare, having discovered—to her delight—that the floors were all heated.

The entire house was a source of amazement to her, and the more they’d shown her, the more she’d marveled at the luxury they took for granted. Gleaming counters of polished stone, new appliances, and a food console capable of preparing anything from simple drinks to elaborate meals. She was introduced to the simple AI that ran the household, her voiceprint recorded as a guest so she could program her preferences on everything from the time her alarm went off in the morning to the temperature of the water in her shower.

Breakfast had been a noisy, cheerful affair, and when it was done, they had spent a quiet day inside, watching vids and playing games with Annie. They’d kept Ciara entertained and off her feet without making her feel like a burden, and she’d enjoyed every second of it. It was a pleasant, easy day, and by the time evening came around again, she felt as if she was living with old friends. It was easier to relax around them when they were both out of uniform, unshaven and informally dressed in jeans and T-shirts. Annie wandered between the three of them, sharing stories and toys and dispensing unlimited hugs and sticky kisses.

It was the best day she’d had in a long time.

Later that day, and against her protests, they’d ordered new clothes for her. She’d argued until she was blue in the face, but it made no difference, especially since someone had already provided them with her dress and shoe size, along with suggestions about style and color choices.

Ciara was going to kill Alayna the next time she saw her.

Despite the casualness of the day, the undercurrents of attraction and desire were never far from the surface. They flirted and watched each other, every casual touch sending sparks flying between them. As they bid her good night, both men took her hands and brushed a kiss to her knuckles in an archaic gesture that made her almost giddy. She could feel their eyes on her as she made her way upstairs. Even after she’d closed her door and crawled into the heavenly softness of her bed, she couldn’t stop thinking about them.

More importantly, she didn’t want to.

* * * *

Vance was programming the console for breakfast when he heard footsteps. Dane had gone in to work early, so when Vance heard the steady fall of adult feet on the stairs, he knew who it was without looking. Ciara. In the few days she’d been staying with them, she’d fallen into their routine, rising to have breakfast with them each day.

“Good morning. Sleep well?”

“I did. In fact, I’m contemplating stealing the bed when I go. I’ve never slept so well in my life. Of course, there’s the minor issue of not having a place to put it…but I’ll think of something.”

“You might have noticed we’ve got a ton of extra rooms and space around here. You’re welcome to stay as long as you need to. You can take your time, make a plan, decide where you’re going to go and how you’re going to get there. There’s no reason for you to go until you’re ready.” He turned and handed her a mug of fresh coffee, enjoying the smile of pleasure that came over her face as she inhaled the scent.

“Thanks,” she said before taking a sip. “But this is why I should go soon. Waking up to perfectly brewed coffee and sleeping in a bed so soft it makes a cloud look lumpy by comparison is all too tempting. The longer I stay here, the harder it’s going to be for me to leave.”

“Maybe that’s my plan. Entice you to stay here where you would be safe from random earthquakes, radiation, and the thousand other ways the badlands try to kill you every day.”

“It’s not so bad. You should come out there some day.”

“If you’ll be my guide? I’m game to go whenever you are.”

Her hazel eyes narrowed in thought. “How about today? I’d really like to go to Black Springs and see for myself what’s left. Maybe there are a few of my things I can still manage to salvage. Not likely, I know. But I’d like to go anyway.”

“Let me take a look at you, including your incision. If it’s all healed up, I see no reason why you can’t go. You’ll have to give me a guided tour another time. I’m due back at work this afternoon for a briefing, but Dane should be able to take you. Annie spends a few afternoons a week at a play center on the base, getting to know the other children. I can drop her off on my way in.”

“My incision is fine. It doesn’t even itch anymore.”

“No show, no go. That’s the deal.”

She shook her head and gave him a pleading look over her coffee cup. “C’mon, Doc. It’s healed. I swear.”

“That look doesn’t work for Annie, and it’s not going to work for you, either. I can’t let you go out there without knowing you’d be okay.”

“I’m not used to having other people fret over me. It’s a little disconcerting. You sure you need to see it?”

“I’d be happier if I did, yes. I’ve seen you hurting, and never want see you in pain again.” He reached out to touch her, stroking his fingertips over the soft curve of her cheek. “I want to see the incision and give you a quick scan so I can go to work and not spend my day worrying about you.”

“You’d worry about me?” The look she gave him was part wonder, part doubt, but she didn’t pull away from his caress.

“Yes, I would. You matter to me. Probably more than you should considering we haven’t known each other very long.”

“To be honest, I feel the same way about you.” Ciara gave in to the temptation that had been with her since she’d come to stay with Vance and Dane. She leaned her cheek against Vance’s fingers for a brief second before moving her head away again. Every day, she’d grown more comfortable with them, and every day, her interest in them had blossomed a little more. She liked them both a great deal. More than was wise, given she hadn’t decided yet if she were staying or not.

Vance dropped his hand but stayed where he was, close enough she could smell the subtle musk of his soap. “Then trust me to take care of you. Show me how well you’ve healed.”

She set her coffee down on the counter and took a slow breath. It shouldn’t be a big deal. He’d seen her body before. For heaven’s sake, he’d been the one to cut off her clothes the night she’d arrived at the base, but this time, it was different. They weren’t in the medical center anymore. He wasn’t her doctor, and he sure as hell wasn’t looking at her like she was a patient right now.

“If your daughter comes in right now, I’m telling her we’re playing doctor and leaving you to explain what that means,” she said before turning and lifting her arm over her head.

He touched her shoulder and closed his eyes. The scan took no time at all, and when he was done, he opened his eyes and smiled. “You’re good. I’d still like to look for myself, though.”

“Go for it.”

He lifted the loose fitting sweater, exposing her ribcage and the tiny incision he’d had to make between her ribs. “It looks good.”

“See? I told you!” she said with glee.

“Then you won’t mind if I test for tenderness.”

He didn’t give her a chance to respond before carefully pressing his fingers to the spot. If it hurt, she had no chance of noticing. All Ciara could feel was the heat of his touch and her body’s response. Her pulse raced as sparks of awareness danced over her skin. Her nipples tightened, suddenly aching to be touched. She forgot to breathe, only realizing it when Vance withdrew his hand with a concerned murmur.

“Did I hurt you?” he asked.

“No.” She tugged the sweater back down and clamped her arms across her chest to hide any evidence of her arousal.

“I thought I heard your breath catch, and I know your heart rate increased, I could sense it. Are you sure it’s not still tender?”

Heat flushed her cheeks as her body betrayed her for the second time in under a minute. “You did, but it wasn’t because it hurt. Trust me, I’m fine, and this examination is over.”

His handsome features softened into a smug grin. “I see. In that case, I declare you cleared for active duty. I’ll let Dane know he’s going on a field trip this afternoon. You should have a few changes of clothes delivered by then so you won’t have to go out there barefoot and in borrowed gear.”

“Thank you,” she said, her cheeks still hot.

He cupped a hand under her chin and gently tipped her face up until her gaze met his. “Welcome to my world. I haven’t been able to catch my breath around you since we met.”

With that, he turned and walked back to the food console to retrieve his freshly brewed cup of coffee. Ciara grabbed her mug and took a long drink, ignoring the heat as she struggled to figure out what had happened. If he wanted her, why hadn’t he kissed her? Any other man would have. Instead, he’d given her space. Normally, it’s what she would have wanted, but now that she had it, she wasn’t so sure.

“Has anyone told you that you’re a very confusing man?” she asked as she went to refill her mug.

He blinked at her, then burst out laughing. “You’d be the first one to think so. If you ask Dane, he’ll tell you I’m as predictable as a lunar orbit.”

“Well, he’s wrong.”

Golden-brown eyes glittered with amusement as he lifted his mug toward her in a toast. “You’re welcome to stay as long as it takes for you to figure us out.”

“That could take the rest of my life,” she said, aware she may not be staying that long. She had a life to rebuild. Vance and Dane had a daughter to raise, and likely soon, they’d find another chosen and start adding to their family again. They had different goals and very different lives. Whatever this was, it wasn’t going to be forever.

But it might be nice…for a little while.

* * * *

“We’re nearly there,” Ciara announced as a familiar outcropping of rock rose into sight. Normally, it took several bone-jarring hours to travel from Fort Saken to Black Springs, but she’d never made the journey in anything as nice or as modern as the transpo Dane had borrowed from the motor pool. Soft seats, purified air, and a powerful engine that had hurtled them across the distance in almost half the usual time. She and Dane had talked most of the way. She’d regaled him with stories of life in the badlands, and he’d entertained her with stories of what it was like to be an Alliance officer. She’d especially liked hearing about living onboard the space cruisers, travelling between the stars. She’d been to the moon once with her family, the only time Ciara had ever been off-planet. When she was young, she’d always planned to save up and go somewhere exotic someday, maybe the infamous New Vega. It wasn’t likely to happen any time soon, though. Off-world trips required plenty of credits, and that was something she didn’t have much of.

Dane gestured ahead of them to the bleak landscape, pulling her out of her thoughts. “I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact people actually live out here. There’s nothing around but rocks and scrub. It’s like something out of a nightmare.”

“That’s my home you’re talking about,” she reminded him.

He was silent for a heartbeat, then asked, “Why do you live out here? What made you choose this life?”

“It wasn’t one thing that led me here. When I left home, I didn’t have a destination in mind. One thing led to another until I woke up one morning and discovered I was running a clinic and had people relying on me. I’m not like you, Dane, my life didn’t turn out anything like I thought it would.”

Dane barked with laughter. “Sweetheart, what gave you the impression this was the life I expected to have? I thought I’d be fucking dead by now, or maybe sharing a cell with my father. He’s on Mars, by the way, and will be for the rest of his life. You might be a rebel now, but I promise you your pedigree is a hell of a lot more impressive than mine.”

“Your dad’s a criminal?”

“And my mother was an addict. Maybe she still is, I have no idea.” He shrugged. “I woke up one morning and she was gone. After that, I was on my own. I decided to follow in my father’s footsteps and started stealing. I was pretty good, too. Then I got cocky, tried to steal a transpo and got caught red-handed. I wasn’t registered, so no one had any real idea how old I was, but they sent me for testing anyway. By some miracle, I actually scored high enough to be accepted for elite training.”

“What do you mean, they didn’t know how old you were. Didn’t you tell them?”

He shook his head. “I was about eight when my mom vanished, and by then my dad was already a guest of the Mars penal system. I lost count of the years, and by the time they caught me, I had no idea how old I was. My DNA eventually led them to my father, and he told them when I was born. It was one of the few times in my life he’s actually done something to help me.”