Born of Fire (36 page)

That was not going to help. It was like swatting a three-ton vorna with a shoe.

“No!” Vik screamed as he rummaged through the backpack while Syn ran at the rover. “Lemme out! Lemme out! I picked the wrong pack. I wanna be with the nonsuicidal bonebag!” He stuck his head out, then quickly vanished inside again. “For the record, Sheridan, you weren’t this stupid when you were young.”

While Syn continued shooting, the rover’s lights swung about them in a crazy frenzy as the pilot tried to dodge Syn’s blasts.

They opened fire on Syn.

I am a complete and utter moron.
Taking a deep breath, she pulled out her blaster and did just what he did. She opened fire on the rover.

Like this is going to help
. . .

But unlike Syn, she aimed for the lights to keep them from blinding Syn.

Syn paused as the lights went out and Vik finally
stopped shouting profanities at him. A slow smile spread across his face as Shahara joined him. “Nice shooting, love.”

The dim light played in her hair, making it look even softer than he knew it to be. She was beautiful. “Again, it’s what I’m good at.”

And she topped him for accuracy.

But the reprieve didn’t last as the gunners returned to shoot at them again.

“Move!” he shouted, running directly toward the rover as it lifted up to come at them one more time.

Shahara did as ordered, and with every step that took them closer to their pursuers, all she could think was that they were absolutely nuts for even attempting this.

Or worse. It could be the last mistake either of them ever made.

The trackers’ blasts scattered wildly as they tried to kill the two of them while keeping them from shooting something they needed to fly the craft. If only she could get one good shot at their fuel lines . . .

Syn continued to fire at them, and the rover finally dove back below the top of the building.

Kneeling down on the roof, he pried open a small trapdoor. He lowered himself through the hole, then popped his head up to look at her. “C’mon.”

Shahara glanced down into the dark, narrow crawl space. It looked far from hospitable, and she really hated cramped spaces. But any desire she had to argue died the instant she heard the rover’s engines approaching again.

She jumped into the hole.

Gah, it was unbearably tight even for her. How he stood it, she had no idea. “Where are we?”

“How would I know? I’ve never been here before.” He latched the door closed behind her by reaching over her shoulder.

“Then how did you know this was here?”

“I saw the opening and decided this was a better place to be than on top of the roof, in plain sight.” He pulled out sealant and pushed it into the crevices to keep the Rits from coming in on top of them.

“So which way do we go?”

He pulled Vik out. The mechbot dangled in his hand like an angry pet. “Go scout, buddy.”

“Screw you, Syn. Really.” Turning into a large rat, Vik scurried off, but not before calling back over his shoulder. “Bet you’re wishing you’d made me bigger . . . and with weapons.”

Ignoring him, Syn, on all fours, headed to the right at a much slower pace.

She hissed as her back scraped against the tight walls and bit into her flesh. “You know, I’m getting really tired of following after you like a lost puppy.”

Pausing, he laughed evilly. “Feel free to stop any time you want to.”

She heard clicking sounds across the roof that she was sure were hundreds of feet. Well, okay, maybe not hundreds, but it was certainly more people than she wanted to confront on her own.

Quickening her crawling, she muttered, “I think I’ll wait until after our
friends
go home to cut you loose.”

“Here.” He placed her hands on each side of his hips. “Hold on to me and don’t worry about where we’re going.”

Grateful for his eyesight that didn’t need any noticeable light, she did as ordered.

Beneath her hands, Shahara felt the hardness of his body as he led her through the endless, winding duct until she was hopelessly lost. Still, his presence comforted her and gave her hope that they would survive.

It amazed her that she’d given him her trust. Something she’d sworn long ago that she’d never do with anyone outside her family. But then, she’d found herself doing a lot of things with him that she’d sworn she’d never do.

And thank the gods that he had yet to betray her.

At last, he opened a small vent and led them into a rundown, empty office. Cobwebs and debris littered the floor, while off in the darkness, she heard animals scurrying. A foul odor assaulted her nostrils. Pressing her hand to her nose so that she could breathe, she looked at Syn. “What is this place?”

“I think it’s the condemned building a few blocks away from my apartment.”

That would certainly explain the decaying mess and the lovely dank, moldy odors.

Syn went to look out the windows. The blinds crackled from their brittle state as he spread them open ever so slightly. “I think we lost the ones chasing us from the roof. At least I don’t hear them any more.”

“Neither do I.”

He tapped his ear, and she waited while he listened to whatever Vik reported.

“Pull on your hood.” He put his own on his head.

Good idea
, she thought as she complied. The Rits would scan the building soon and it would be easy to trace two large targets.

Lights danced around the fogged glass of the office’s door.

“They’re coming.” Syn pulled her away from the glass to keep their pursuers from seeing their shadows.

Once again her heart picked up its heavy staccato rhythm as they pressed themselves flat against the wall. Syn held her plastered there, his arm draped protectively across her breasts. The door creaked open. Her breath caught in her throat as a personal-sized searchlight traveled across the room.

When the man entered, Syn grabbed the arm holding the light, then decked him. The blow had no effect on the tracker. Cursing, Syn shook his hand as if he’d broken it.

The tracker smiled evilly as he grabbed Syn by the throat and slammed him against the wall.

Without thinking, Shahara stepped around Syn and drove her knee into tracker’s groin as hard as she could. He let out a loud wail before doubling over. She brought her hands down on either side of his head, against his ears, for a nice percussion blow.

He fell to the floor where she groin-kicked him again, just for good measure.

Syn stood over the tracker. “Bet the next time a guy hits you in front of his girl you’ll fall down, won’t you?” He bent over and began searching him for something.

The tracker said nothing. He just lay on the ground moaning while holding himself.

Syn straightened and she saw the communicator he’d found. He set his blaster to stun and shot the tracker. He shook his head at her. “Damn, woman, you really
do
need to stop with those groin kicks. You make my cock hurt just looking at him.”

“It was more effective than your punch.”

“I can’t argue with that.” He started down the hallway.

As he walked, she noticed the slight limp. “Are you hurt?”

“No,” he said in a low voice. “It’s sympathy pain for that tracker you downed.”

She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, well, I didn’t kick
you
.”

“Like I said before, your kicks have a way of staying with a man for a long time.”

“Quit being a baby and get us out of here.”

He grunted. “What do you need me for? I ought to turn you loose and let you kick them down.”

Voices crackled over the communicator in a language she couldn’t make out. “What are they saying?”

He held his hand up to silence her and listened.

Once the voices stopped, he turned to face her. “They’re cordoning off the block. They have two rovers on each side of the building and a group of local enforcers.” He rubbed his neck. “I don’t mind taking out a tracker or two, but I’d sure hate to kill a local.”

“Too bad they don’t have the same compunctions about us.”

He cocked his head. “I thought you weren’t bloodthirsty.”

“Let’s just say I’m getting sick of people coming after me all the time when . . .”

He stopped and faced her. “When what?”

She clamped her lips together. For the first time, she began to actually feel what he must have felt for years. Abandoned. Alone. Hunted for something he couldn’t change, for something he’d done out of necessity.

It was a nasty feeling, and one that had been rammed down his throat. Who was she to complain to him over these last few days?

How had he managed all this time to remain free?

It gave her a whole new respect for him and his abilities.

“How are we going to get past them?” she asked in order to change the subject.

“We’re going to get to the first floor and find a quiet place to hide.”

“Why?”

“Just trust me.”

And with those three little words, she found herself trailing along behind him again.

When he finally found them a place he called “safe,” she began to wonder if the night would ever end. He stopped beside a row of old employee lockers.

She raked a doubtful stare over them. “You’re not thinking what I think you are . . .”

“We’ll fit.”

She wasn’t so convinced. Reaching out, she touched his hard stomach, then wished she hadn’t as a wave of misplaced and definitely mistimed desire hit her. “I don’t know, chubby. You’re not exactly small.”

The sound of feet kept him from responding as he opened one door with only a whisper of noise and wedged himself inside. When she headed for a different unit, he caught her arm and pulled her in on top of him.

She grimaced as he bumped her breast with his elbow and sent a sharp flash of pain through her. “I really wish you’d find us better places to hide.”

He said nothing.

Shahara let out an aggravated breath. How the two of them had wedged themselves into the thin metal locker to begin with, she couldn’t imagine. It would have probably been okay for one person, but for two, it was a little too tight. Every inch of her body was thrown
against his and, as they waited, she began to feel part of him grow.

So he wasn’t quite as mad at her as he pretended. She smiled at the thought and realized that for once she didn’t mind a tight place.

Syn held his breath, trying his damnedest to ignore the soft mounds of her breasts pressed intimately against his stomach. Her neck was just beneath his lips and that flesh was much more enticing than he wanted it to be. Not to mention her arms, on either side of him, made him long to have her actually hug him.

I am so fucked up
. . .

A painful ache set fire to the entire lower half of his anatomy. And for a moment, he didn’t care if he got caught so long as he had a taste of her first.

What the hell is wrong with me?

Personal safety and survival had always been his first instinct. But tonight, his instinct was to protect the very woman who threatened him most.

And as those soft, golden eyes looked up at him, he was lost. Her parted lips beckoned him and it was almost impossible to keep from kissing her.

Why couldn’t she see him for the man he was and not the past he’d been through? But he was old enough to know better. People betrayed, and sooner or later everyone screwed him over for themselves.

She would be no different.

Yet right now, looking at her trusting face, it was hard to resist doing something he knew would be suicide.

Shahara heard his breathing change and her own instantly followed. She moved her hands to his hips, which were pressed intimately against hers. His entire body
jerked. With a wicked smile, she couldn’t resist lowering her hand and cupping him. It was bold and she couldn’t believe she’d done it, but the look of heat on his face made it all worthwhile.

Licking her suddenly dry lips, she had a terrible urge to reach up and take his hood off and kiss him until he begged for mercy.

Just when she thought she’d give in to her impulse, she heard approaching footsteps.

His entire body went rigid as he pulled her hand away from him.

Shahara held her breath.

“See anything?” It was a woman with a deep contralto.

“No,” an older man replied. “Just the same old broken-down stuff. Nothing on the scanner, either.”

“I don’t know why they’re bothering with the first floor. No one but an idiot would try and hide down here. I bet they’re up on top trying to find some way to get past the rovers.”

“I bet we find them up on the tenth floor.”

“Half a week’s pay?”

“You’re on.”

Shahara saw him touch his ear. Vik must have been talking to him, but Syn didn’t respond.

Once the pair left, he eased open the door. “Stay here,” he whispered before closing her in.

Was he leaving her for them to find?

Don’t be stupid. The two of you have come too far for him to leave you now.

Still, she couldn’t quite stifle the voice that kept telling her he was taking his chances and leaving her there to face the Rits alone.

Maybe it was just her guilty conscience nagging her.

Suddenly the door flew open. Shahara struck out with one fist.

“Relax,” Syn hissed as he ducked her blow. “It’s just me.” He shoved a uniform into her hands. “Change as fast as you can.”

She held the red enforcer’s uniform against her chest and scowled at him. “What did you do?”

“Just hurry.”

With no thought to modesty, she obeyed. While she pulled her new clothes on, she couldn’t resist a quick look to see Syn’s bare skin. The full curve of his naked hip and bare derriere.

Syn
never
wore underwear.

Hmmm . . . She’d have to tuck that tidbit away for later . . .

He looked up and caught her gaze with his eyes. “Would you quit wasting time? Get dressed.”

Syn snapped his uniform together while he tried to blot out the image of Shahara in her bra and tiny, tiny panties he desperately wanted to pull off with his teeth. His body ached with the memory of her squeezed up against him.

Or better yet, naked in his bed.