Bianca D'Arc (8 page)

Chip woke early and lay in bed, watching Lila
sleep. She was so soft. So delicate. Yet, she seemed to have a core
of steel that appealed to him. She’d come to him willingly. No, he
revised his thought, not just willingly, but eagerly. Once he’d
given in to the attraction he’d been fighting, she’d all but jumped
him. And he liked the thought of that a lot. The high born lady had
become a sex kitten, clawing his back and purring in his ear as
he’d taken her.

Damn. That had been hot. She’d blown his mind
and rocked his world. He didn’t want to let this night end. Not
ever.

It was a frightening thought for a man who’d
decided to live his life alone, never committing to one woman. He
didn’t think it was fair to saddle anyone with the baggage he
carried around. He was a battle scarred vet who had been rebuilt
with the use of gene therapy and cybernetics. He lived a dangerous
life and his compassionate sensibilities wouldn’t let him drag an
innocent woman into that.

But was it so wrong to want to have someone
to call his own? And was Lila as innocent as she looked? After last
night, he thought perhaps not.

Not only was she a hellion in bed, but she’d
admitted to a past career as an intelligence operative. When she’d
mentioned General Winters and said she’d worked for him, she was as
good as admitting she’d been a highly placed operator. Only a very
special few reported directly to Winters.

If she were a player in the intel game, she
knew what his life was like. Maybe that would make a
difference.

One thing he knew for certain—he wasn’t ready
to let her go. Not until the danger was over. Maybe not even
then.

Chip crept out of bed to use the lav and get
dressed, leaving her to sleep a little longer. When he returned,
she was still sound asleep. He thought about how to wake her as he
sat on his side of the bed. She’d turned to face his empty place
while he’d been away. The thought touched him more deeply than it
probably should.

As he watched, her eyelashes fluttered. A
second later, her eyes opened and the sleepy kitten stretch of her
arms above her head made him smile. Damn, she was cute. Her eyes
focused on him and a smile lit her face. It was as if a rose had
bloomed in his heart, unfurling its petals and filling every empty
space inside him.

“Good morning.” Her voice was roughened with
sleep, purring over his senses and making him feel warm in all the
cold places.

“Good morning,” he replied, smiling because
he couldn’t help himself. “Can I interest you in breakfast?”

Her eyes narrowed, a smile still playing
about her lips, as if she wasn’t quite sure what to make of him
this morning. She sat up, clutching the sheet to her luscious
breasts. She was a gorgeous woman inside and out. Built just the
way he liked, if a bit on the small side. He’d had to be careful
last night, not to squash her, but she’d been a lot more resilient
than he’d expected, matching him move for move. She’d managed to
surprise him more than a few times as well. All in all, it had been
one of the most memorable experiences of his life. And he wanted
more. So much more.

But there was a lot to be done today and the
first order of business had to be Lila’s safety—or there would be
no more nights like the one just passed.

“What time is it?” Lila rubbed one delicate
hand over her eyes, stretching again.

“Half past eight. I let you sleep in.” He
shrugged as if it wasn’t a big deal. In reality, he’d had to stop
himself from waking her for a repeat of the mind blowing pleasure
they’d shared multiple times the night before.

Lila swung her legs over the side of the bed,
exposing the lovely, long line of her back. Chip had to fist his
hands to keep from reaching out to touch her. If he touched her,
they’d never get the bar open. He’d keep her in bed all day and
then their relationship would be out in the open and the talk in
the bar, when it finally reopened, would be difficult. There was
too much going on right now to take the day off.

“We need to talk about your safety, Lila,” he
reminded them both as he got out of bed, not looking at her. He
knew he’d just brought her crashing back to reality and he
regretted the need to do so, but it was necessary.

“All right.” She sounded resigned. “Let me
hit the lav and then we’ll talk.”

She got up and took the sheet into the lav
with her. Chip watched her go. He would have been amused at the
picture she made if the situation wasn’t so serious. She was in
danger and he had to do his absolute best to keep her safe.

Chip got dressed and headed into the galley
to get breakfast in order. Alex had months worth of rations in his
pantry that required little finesse to produce a tasty meal. Chip
got busy and by the time Lila reappeared, breakfast was served.

She paused on her way to her seat at the
table to place a gentle kiss on Chip’s cheek. He was shocked into
immobility for a moment, astounded by the way such a simple thing
could make him feel. His heart skipped a beat, then fluttered back
to life and suddenly he wanted her soft kisses every morning for
the rest of his life.

Whoa, boy. He had to slow down a bit. Lila
wasn’t his. Not on a permanent basis. Maybe not even beyond this
morning. He had to settle a few things first and then maybe… maybe…
with full disclosure on his part, which was going to be painful… he
might be able to ask her to consider staying with him.

Of course, that was only if all the planets
aligned and he could keep her safe through whatever was coming on
the station. He had a job to do and she was at the heart of it,
which worried him as he’d never worried before. It was one thing to
risk his own life and wellbeing in the line of duty. It was another
thing completely to risk Lila.

She sat down, blissfully unaware of the
turmoil her familiar gesture had caused within him. He wouldn’t let
her see it either. He’d have to come to terms with the changes she
wrought in his life as they happened, or there would be no future
for either of them. His inability to adapt might get them both
killed.

“This is great. Thanks for making breakfast.”
She tucked into her meal with a grin as he poured coffee for them
both before taking his own place at the table.

He ate a few bites before broaching the
subject that weighed on his mind.

“I don’t like how many people know your
schedule, Lila. They know when and how you leave the bar each night
and it’s obvious they now know where you’ve been living. How else
could Beezus have been waiting at your stop?” He scowled as he
thought about what could have happened if he hadn’t been there. A
thought occurred to him. “Would you have had advance warning from
your, uh, gift if I hadn’t been with you last night?”

She lowered her fork to the table very
deliberately. “I probably would have felt his anger and perverted
glee, but I’ve been wondering what I could’ve done to save myself
at that point. The pod was programmed for that station. I would’ve
had to go there and the hatch would’ve opened. My only chance
would’ve been if I could get the hatch closed again before he
grabbed me and programmed for another location.”

They both knew the pods didn’t work that
quickly and the red signal would have kept the pod exactly where it
was. Beezus would’ve had her without Chip’s intervention. He
reached out to cover her hand with his. She was trembling.

“I don’t want you going back there tonight.
In fact, I’d like for you to move in here, with me. We can go over
this afternoon and get your things. One of the guys will watch the
bar for an hour or two. What do you say?”

She sat back in her chair and looked at him
for a long moment before replying.

“This is moving a little fast.”

Not the answer he’d been hoping for, but he
could work with it.

“You’re better off if Beezus and his pals
know you have a protector. We could play this two ways. Either
we’re seen as a couple and they know if they mess with you, they
mess with me. Frankly, I prefer that scenario. Or, if you want to
keep things under wraps, we keep it quiet and keep them guessing.
Either way, you don’t go back to your sister’s rooms. You stay
here. In my bed. I don’t have to be in it with you, if you have a
problem with that. I’m not trying to pressure you into anything
sexual, but I cannot, in good conscience, let you go out there on
your own.”

He’d said his piece. He sat back and waited
to see how she would respond to it. Chip ignored the fact that he
seemed to be holding his breath.

“All right.” He started breathing again at
her words. “I’ll bunk in with you for the time being. I like the
idea of keeping them guessing, but I also see the point in giving
them a reason for the sudden change in my living space. How about
if we play it somewhere in the middle. Don’t come right out and say
I’m living with you, but act a little more, um… friendly behind the
bar. They can infer what they want from our increased intimacy and
it would probably look less suspicious.”

“I like the way your mind works, Lila.” He
grinned at her as some of the tension left his body. She’d agreed
to stay with him and some inner part of him was cheering like a
madman. The more rational part of his brain thought about the
situation and how he could best keep her safe while doing his job.
Somehow, he’d work it out. He had to. There was no other acceptable
alternative.

They finished their meal and then went out to
open the bar. Alex’s quarters were some of the most secure
compartments on the station. Once the hatch was sealed, nothing and
no one was getting in or out.

About mid-morning, Chip asked his pilot
friend, Julian, to take charge of the bar for an hour while he and
Lila went to retrieve her belongings. The scratches around the
locking mechanism to her quarters were their first clue that
something had happened here last night.

“The hall camera is out. Covered with paint,”
Chip observed quietly as they both went on alert. “Probably shot
from some distance to hide whoever attempted to jimmy the
lock.”

“This lock is made of sterner stuff than
that,” Lila replied, supplying the correct codes to open the hatch
after the tampering had shut the system down completely. “My family
doesn’t take chances with personal security. Nobody got in here,
though they sure did give it a try. Do you think it was Beezus?”
She looked up at him as the final code made the lock click
open.

“Probably. I bet he was pissed when you
didn’t show up on that pod, served up like desert.”

She shivered. “Narrow escape. Thank the
goddess.” Chip would have questioned her words but she pushed the
door open and poked her head in cautiously. “Feels okay. Nobody
made it past Della’s security.”

“I could hack station security feeds, but
they’d be useless considering the goop on that lens.” Chip had
already tried, using his implant, and knew for a fact the camera
feed was a no go.

“It’s okay. Della installed some things that
will help us discover who was at my hatch last night. Follow me.”
She led the way into the narrow entry, but once inside with the
hatch closed securely behind them, Chip switched places with
her.

“Let me do a walk through to be certain.”

Lila shrugged and smiled up at him, extending
one arm indicating he was welcome to do as he liked. Chip didn’t
comment, moving silently through the small group of rooms. He kept
one eye on Lila as best he could while he checked the rest of the
small area. Living space on the station was always at a premium.
Even in this better part of the ring structure, few people could
afford much more than a main room with small cubbies attached for
sleeping, bodily functions storage and food prep. It didn’t take
long to search all the obvious areas.

“It’s clear,” Chip said, returning to her
side. She nodded and he liked her serious demeanor. She didn’t make
light of his need to be certain that they were alone in the
rooms.

“Follow me.” She walked into a small storage
area near the front door that was used to house coats, shoes and
the small amount of outerwear one might use on the climate
controlled station. Chip was surprised when she touched a hidden
panel and the whole back of the tiny closet compartment opened to
reveal a small passageway.

“Well, I’ll be damned.”

“Della has this compartment and the one next
door too. That’s the fortified one with the surveillance gear.
Among other things.”

“Should you be showing this to me?”

It was clear that Lila’s sister was in the
spy game up to her neck. On a station where the bar should have
been the main covert operations point, this set of quarters had
been built into the station’s structure totally independent of the
bar’s hidden pathways and private information loops. Chip sent a
silent query to his implant and found no trace of this secret,
armored compartment anywhere. Not on the private station schematics
and not on the secret ones either. Interesting. Maybe Della had
been set up to spy on the spies?

“It’s my call. Della can get mad at me later.
Right now, we need to see what happened here last night and the
means are in here.” Lila led him to a small console that appeared
to house a closed system.

She punched up the outside surveillance feeds
and then scrolled back to the night before. Sure enough, Beezus
could be seen loitering outside her hatch soon after a small pellet
whizzed by and struck the station’s camera, coating it in opaque
goo. Chip wasn’t surprised at all when the man started trying to
hack his way into Lila’s private quarters with little success.

The anger on his face though, that gave him
pause. Not just anger. It was more like rage. A demented looking
rage that indicated bad things to Chip, who had made detailed a
study of human nature.