Mesmerized (25 page)

Read Mesmerized Online

Authors: Lauren Dane

Tags: #Fiction, #Romance, #Erotic fiction, #General, #Adult, #Erotica, #Mercenary troops

BOOK: Mesmerized
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“Thank you, but no. We need to be on our way.”
He made to reach for her and she stepped back. “
No
. Don’t touch me.”
“Fine. If you’re too whipped by your girl-haired keeper over there, it’s your loss.”
She made it a point to stay out of reach as she kept an eye on the loading of the pallets of goods.
“Anything else I can do for you? I’ll be on my way if not.”
“Not today.”
He hailed the three with him, and they all turned in unison.
The hair on the back of Andrei’s neck had been up since they took the stairs to leave the transport. This Arge was up to something. There were too many men with him for such a reasonably small transaction. They were carrying, he could tell given the way they moved. Not unusual, they’d have to in their business. But the sum total of it was something overdone.
Carey saw it, too, making a hand sign indicating they not get flanked as they handled the cargo.
And then the man had the audacity to reach for her. She jumped back and told him no. He’d sneered as Andrei imagined breaking his fingers. And then the hail. He knew that hail.
“Get down,” he snarled and in one easy movement, threw one of his knives, which won its goal, landing in Arge’s throat.
“Do you honestly think you can rob us?” Piper, who’d recovered enough to get behind the stairwell, called out.
“No. I think we can rob you and then kill you. Maybe after we get a little taste of you. We’re hungry men.”
Andrei stalked over, blaster shots raining around him. He headed straight for the one who’d told Piper they’d gang rape her and kill them all. “No. You’ll be dead.” Without pulling his weapon, he reached out and snapped the man’s neck.
That’s when he felt the cold, painful slice of a plas-fire to the back.
Piper screamed in the background, but he told her to get in the transport. Soon enough the field would be filled with people alerted by the sounds of the firefight. They didn’t need the exposure.
“Get the bodies in the transport,” he called back to Carey as he rolled, the pain from his back nearly making him bolt his last meal. He blocked it out and, grabbing the dead man’s plas-rifle, hit the last man who’d been standing.
Piper had started the engines; the hum of the thrusters heating up rumbled through the ground. Andrei grabbed the body of the man he’d just neutralized, tossing him over a shoulder as he scooped the weapons into a pack. Carey came to grab Arge, and they did one last check and got onto the transport and sealed the doors.
“I unlocked the docking clamps. Go.” Andrei slumped into a chair in the back, strapping in right before he was flatted by the gravity of reentry into the portal space.
Carey unstrapped and moved to him. “You’re injured.”
“We have to dump this trash first.”
“We have four hours until we reach Mirage. We have time. Let me help you get this shirt and vest off so I can treat the wound, or I’ll use a tranq, cut it off and leave you unconscious until we arrive.”
Andrei growled but let Carey peel the clothing from his upper body. The air hitting the burns, especially after the clothing that had been melted to it was removed, hurt like a motherfucker.
“What’s going on back there?” Piper called out from the cockpit.
“Nothing. Just dealing with our friends.” Andrei had intended to sound in control, but even he heard the pain in his voice.
Moments later she ran back. “What’s wrong?” She skidded to a halt, stepping around the bodies and knelt next to where Carey was busily tweezing bits of fabric from the wound. “Why didn’t you tell me you were injured? Why isn’t he out? Surely this has to be incredibly painful.”
“No need to tell you. We were a little busy back there. Go”—he paused, pushing the nausea back—“back up front. I’m all right.”
“The hells you are.” She shoved her sleeves up. “Let me sanitize my hands and then I’ll be back to help you.”
Carey chuckled as he worked. “No one is going to think you weak if you took a little pain reliever. At least that, Andrei. I won’t knock you out, though I think you’d heal better that way. I know you want to watch over her.”
By the time Piper had returned, he had no choice as she simply injected the pain relievers at several spots around the wound. The gray at the edge of his vision began to dissolve as he could breathe better again.
She knelt, holding one of his hands as they spread the nanite gel over the worst of the damage and wrapped him up.
“Are you all right?” She held his face in her hands, not allowing him to look away.
He swallowed and nodded. “I was stupid to let myself get flanked. It’s a lesson I won’t forget.”
“Gods forbid you have any flaws, Andrei Solace. If you get hurt again and try to hide it from me, I will kick your ass, no matter how spectacular it is.” She kissed him hard and stood. “Should we search the bodies to see if we can find anything useful before we dump them?”
Carey laughed. “I like you, Piper.”
“Go fly the damned transport.” Andrei managed to stand. “I can do this part. You fly, I do body disposal. That’s how this thing between us works.”
“Since you’re sort of charming, I’ll let you get away with it for now.”
The worry etched on her face tore at him. He moved to her because he couldn’t do anything but. Wincing, he adjusted his hold on her. “I’m all right. I promise.”
“I don’t like seeing you weakened by anything,” she whispered before she tiptoed up to kiss him. “Just do this, because I can’t stop you. And then rest. Promise me that.”
He sighed. “Unless something pressing surfaces, I promise to rest after we’ve dumped this offal out into portal space.”
She smiled. “See how easy it is to just make me happy by doing what I ask?”
When they arrived back in Mirage, Julian was waiting to have the cargo hauled. “We’ve set up shop at the military installation outside town. Reinforcements have arrived, so we’re well-defended, should anyone figure out what we’re doing there. Can’t say it bothers me much to have manned guard towers protecting us. Removes the stress. Well, at least that stress.”
Andrei tossed him one of the packs they’d taken from the soldiers back on Ceres. “Have a look in there. Arge, the one who ran that cargo, has been dealing with more than just us. His logs show a lot of travel to Mirage and Parron.”
“Why do you look like someone ran you over?” Julian looked him up and down.
“Took a plas-blast to the back. Caught him at the edge of the vest he had on.” Carey hopped up into the conveyance.
Piper kept a close watch on Andrei, who despite the appearance of being run over, looked a far sight better than he had only two hours before.
Julian held an arm out to Andrei from his place already up in the conveyance. Andrei grasped his forearm and let Julian help him up. Piper smiled her thanks and followed him up.
When they arrived at the military camp, they were given new credentials and badged through all the security checkpoints. And though Julian had mentioned reinforcements, Piper had to admit it was unsettling to see the surge in numbers of troops not only on the streets of the town but at the installation as well.
“Any word from Ravena?” Andrei asked as they settled into the workroom. Their sleep dormitories were attached on either side. The labs were steps down another hallway. The place lacked the warmth of Vincenz’s house, but it had better equipment.
“Yes. In fact”—Julian paused as he looked Andrei over—“they want us to bring part of the cargo you picked up today straight there. The top scientists feel that we should have more than one site working on building the device.”
“And being the Center, Ravena is a natural choice for the second site.” Piper sighed. “I’ll fly it. The run to Ravena. The transport we used needs fuel. The trip will be three days via the private portals. Get Andrei looked at and treated here before I leave.”
“You’re not going anywhere without me.” Andrei had that look, the one she knew meant he would not be swayed. The fear she may have felt was mitigated by the sheen of sweat on his upper lip. Her stomach hurt knowing he was in pain.
“You’re injured.”
“
You’re
a civilian. You’re not running any trip to the Center without me. Period.”
Julian slammed a fist on the table. “Stop it, both of you. Neither of you is going, though I appreciate the way you volunteered, Piper. Andrei, the doctor is waiting just down the hall. He
will
treat the burns and get you some pain relief. Don’t argue. You know Ellis himself would order it so. We’ve got a better transport waiting, and Carey will go with Sera and Ash. Ellis wants you here, Andrei.”
Andrei obeyed in his way, but there was nothing obedient about him and the look on his face.
“He’s going to be really mad at me for letting you go. So don’t get killed, all right?” Julian looked at Carey.
Carey snorted. “He’ll want to have gone himself to keep anyone from getting hurt. But he’ll soon accept he’s an asset better used here. Anyway, there’s a great deal of cellular damage on his back. He had a lot of painkiller, so he was able to walk. But he’s messed up, Julian. He should be put in a tank for at least a day to get it all healed.”
“What can I do, then?” Piper wanted something to keep her mind from Andrei being treated just down the hall.
“We have plans for you. Now that we don’t need to worry about Parron, I want you and Andrei with the teams scouring the surface to locate this processing plant. After he gets rest and treatment. He’d hunt me down and kill me if I sent you out with anyone but him.”
“Oh, he’ll get the rest. If I have to tie him down and sit on him, he’ll get it.”
Vincenz chuckled. “Better you than me trying to insure that. He’s not so easily managed.”
“No, he isn’t. But he isn’t stupid either. He’ll rest because he has to. He needs to, to complete a mission. In the years I’ve known him, I’ve never seen him fail his orders. Ever.” Vincenz stood. “I know this isn’t optimal. But it’s necessary, and he understands that. You’re a good pilot, and you’ll get his back. We are all doing what we have to.”
Suddenly very tired, she indicated the endless line of screens. “Put me to work while I’m here.”
 
 
I
t had taken so long, Julian took pity on her and took her out to the firing range and worked on her shooting skills. Anything to keep busy and to stop thinking about how they’d put Andrei into a gel tank to repair the damage from the plas-blast. It had been worse than he’d indicated, and the doctor told Piper it had been a miracle Andrei had kept conscious after being hit.
Finally, he came into the lab, moving right to her. Heart skipping, she leapt up and ran toward him, careful not to jump into his arms, though she wanted to.
But she realized he’d come right to her. He’d come to her seeking comfort, and her heart sang with it. Burrowing into him, she sighed. “You’re all right.”
“Tired. Which seems silly, given that I was in coma-state for twelve hours, but I am.”
The doctor followed him out and spoke to them. “He needs to rest now. His body has done a lot of work. A good nap should help. High-protein meal when he wakes. He should be ready to get back to it in the morning.”
Andrei growled, a scowl on his mouth.
She forced herself not to be charmed by his resemblance to a toddler who’d had his sweets stolen.
“Come on then. We’re through there.” She thanked the doctor and marched Andrei to their rooms.
“I don’t want to be in bed.”
She shook her head. “Don’t be a baby.” She grabbed a blanket and pointed toward a lounge chair. “There. Not a bed. Don’t make me call the doctor again.”
Julian had put them just down the hall from the labs. They had privacy and proximity to work, the best of the situation. Even a private galley. Piper meant to coddle him as long as he’d allow it.
He began to argue, probably automatic, she thought. But he shuffled to the lounger and got in, putting his feet up and allowing her to cover him with the blanket.
Alarm sharpened the headache she’d had since before they arrived. His lack of argument at being told to rest was not like him at all. On the one hand, that was a positive, because she knew he took care of himself to do the best he could at his job. On the other hand, it meant he’d been hurt enough to know better than resist. But as his color had improved greatly after being treated, she figured his body was doing what it was supposed to.
He fell asleep very quickly, and it hit her that it had been over a day since she’d slept. The worry weighing her down hit hard. Piper grabbed another blanket and stretched out on the small couch near his lounger. She got the feeling she’d need all her strength to manage him once he woke up.
 
 
T
he stench of burning flesh filled her dreams. The way her stomach had dropped when she saw the mess of Andrei’s back, the blood soaking down his hip and into his pant leg. She had a moment where she had to truly face the reality that she could lose him. A moment when she imagined the desolation of life without him in it after she’d finally found him again.

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