Space Invaders (31 page)

“Yes, sir.”

Seth calmed himself. He knew the
Retribution
had to dock on Seid II. There was no way either of those men would let a planet killer stay out in the open. They were too honourable.

At least, he knew Anders would never forgive Sims. Seth had made sure of that. He’d delighted in keeping the two apart and relished watching the vids of the hardship Anders had gone though on DI.

They both deserved everything he could dish out, and they probably didn’t even know why. He’d fix that. Before this ended, they would know Seth Davidson.

Chapter Five

Rave awoke wrapped in warmth. His mind still fuzzy from the alcohol, he didn’t think anything of it. Someone nuzzled the back of his neck, and he wiggled his ass to get comfortable. He brushed against something hard, and a moan sounded behind him. He moved again.

“Keep that up, and I’ll be balls deep inside you before either of us can blink.”

Rave stopped moving and held his breath.

The arms around him squeezed tight. He’d dreamt of times like these, but in the bright glow of day, he was always hard and alone. Rave opened his eyes, expecting more disappointment, but when he looked down, two strong arms were draped across his chest.

Not a dream. Fuck.

For the first time in a long time, he was unsure of what he should do. As much as he wanted to sink into Kain’s arms, his mind told him not to. While he fought with himself, Kain’s hands began to wander down his body. Rave closed his eyes, savouring the feel of his lover’s hands once again.

Then he resigned himself to do what he had to do.

He couldn’t go through Kain breaking his heart or leaving him again. Rave still loved Kain, but he couldn’t trust him. Not yet. Rave needed more than the man’s word. He wanted proof.

The resolve to move away from Kain almost left him when his lover grasped his cock. Rave’s dick didn’t care about deception. It loved the familiar feel of Kain’s hands pumping it. He groaned, but shoved Kain away from him and jumped out of the bed.

“What are you doing here, Kain?”

He kept his back to the bed, afraid of what he would see if he turned around. Rave’s imagination worked overtime as he pictured Kain, the way he’d looked before the Alliance had fucked with their lives. The night before his life had turned upside down. Rave clenched his fists at his sides, waiting for an answer.

“I want you,” Kain said.

“Well, I wanted you, too. Two years ago. Hell, I would have been happy if I’d had you a year ago. Where were you when I needed you?”

“Will you let me tell you this time?” Kain sounded resigned.

Rave sat back down on the bed but couldn’t turn to face Kain.

“I’ll listen, but I’m not guaranteeing I’ll forgive you.”

“Fair enough. I’ll start at the beginning. The day the Alliance arrested you, I was taken to the planet’s headquarters. They detained me until you were secure and on the way to trial. Once you were under lock and key, Commander General Fritz approached me and told me I was to do whatever he said or he would kill you and Se. I didn’t believe him at first, but the panel fast-tracked your trial. They took me to watch, and Fritz made sure to point out the snipers. There were two. One trained on you and one on Se.

“When I heard the verdict, I tried to go to you, but again, Fritz stopped me. He told me the whole thing was a farce and I had to play along. If I didn’t, they would have you killed in prison. I knew they’d do it, too. Things have changed for the worse within the Alliance. They shipped me off to an outer planet with little to no communications where I sat at a desk, my every move watched. I tried to get off planet once. Fritz showed up two days later with a vid. You.
God, Rave
, it was you, unconscious in the hospital ward of the prison. They said if I behaved, they’d protect you better until your time was up. I had to stay. I remained on that planet until a couple of months ago. Every so often, someone would come back with vid of you, to show me they could hurt you at any time. I was told that you hated me, that you’d been informed the whole thing was my fault. I couldn’t come back after that. You’d been through enough.”

Kain paused for a moment, and Rave took in everything . Could this have happened? He wanted to believe. God, how he wanted to believe. It could be another trick.

“Why now?” he whispered.

“Fuck, Rave. I should have come to you sooner. I know that, you know that, but I had to wait and hope you’d forgive me when I could finally get to you. Once I knew we were in the same port, I jumped ship. My orders were to wait, but I was done waiting. Fritz told me about the Royalists’ plans by communiqué before we docked. I know Mel lives on New Moon. I had to tell you as soon as possible. They’d fucked with us enough. I couldn’t let your sister be collateral damage in a war neither of us wants a part of.”

“Is that why we’re headed to New Moon?”

“Yes, we’ll get her off planet then go to Seid II to collect your cargo.”

“What are the plans? I’m supposed to have kidnapped you.”

“That’s how the Alliance plans to take the laser. The kidnapping report went live the moment I left, but the information about who took me won’t go over the waves until the weapon is on this ship. They are supposed to confiscate it, dismantle it then clear your name.”

“And you believe that bullshit?”

How could someone as smart as Kain fall for the Alliance’s crap, again? It had to be a trap. Was Kain in on it? He hated that niggling doubt in his mind.

“I have no choice. I have to have faith in something.”

“Your faith is misguided. No fuckin’ way we’re coming out of this alive. We need a plan.”

“Did you say ‘we’?” Hope laced Kain’s voice.

Rave managed a small grin as some of the ice around his heart started to melt. Kain’s hope was contagious. He still had his back to Kain.

He turned to face the man who had meant so much to him.

“I did say ‘we’. I’m still not sure I can trust you. I see the Alliance’s fingerprints all over this. They played us like puppets on a string. The Royalists are no better.”

“Will you tell me about it?”

“About what?”

“What happened on Devil’s?”

He froze at those words and pushed back the memories so close to the surface. He was ashamed of what happened. He didn’t want to remember or taint the new beginning he might be able to forge with Kain.

“I’m not talking about it. Not now. Maybe never,” Rave made himself force out.

“I understand.” Kain’s hushed tone washed over him.

Rave didn’t think Kain really understood, but it wasn’t Rave’s problem. He changed the topic. “I’m going to go pick up Mel. We can drop her off on a planet en route to Seid II.”

“Want me to come with you?”

“No, you’re supposed to be the victim of a kidnapping. We can’t have you running around.”

“What about you and me?”

“What about us? There
is
no us. Not right now. There can’t be. Let’s finish this mission and go from there.”

Kain bowed his head and looked defeated. Rave couldn’t help himself. He crawled over the bed until he reached Kain’s side. He placed his hands on the side of Kain’s face and forced him to look up then he caressed Kain’s lip with a thumb. When the tip of Kain’s tongue snaked out, Rave pulled him closer. He had to have a taste.

Their lips clashed. Kain tasted good. Better than Rave remembered. He couldn’t get enough. He pulled Kain closer, but it still wasn’t enough. Rave needed more.

“Rave, this is your friendly wake up call.” Sela’s voice filtered through the room.

The two broke apart, panting.

“Goddamn it.”

“What was that, Rave?” Se’s laughter made its way through the coms.

“Nothing, Se. I’ll be out shortly.”

The men looked at each other. The lust in Kain’s eyes echoed what he felt. It had been too long.

“We aren’t finished.” Kain’s husky voice raised goose bumps along Rave’s arms.

“No, we aren’t,” he agreed.

“We can start planning once Mel is safely onboard.”

“Let’s just hope I can get her here.”

Kain chuckled. “She does have your stubborn streak.”

Rave found no humour in the comment because it was the truth. He didn’t relish the fight he knew he had on his hands. His sister
was
stubborn, and he knew she wouldn’t want to leave her home just because he said so. “Maybe I should send you. She always liked you better, anyway.”

“Not me. Maybe you should send Se.”

It was Rave’s turn to laugh. “You might be right.”

He got off the bed to dress, but not before running his hands through Kain’s hair. He’d missed this easy camaraderie they’d always shared. He wondered if they would ever truly get back to where they’d been or if he even wanted to be back there. Too much had changed. He had changed. Rave would never be the man he once was. Kain had changed, too.

Rave finished dressing and turned to Kain. “We aren’t the same men we once were.”

“No, we aren’t. We’re both stronger.”

“Are we really?” Sometimes he wondered how strong he really was. Most of the time he tried to bury the past. It was easier, but did that make him stronger? He sure didn’t think so.

“I think we are. Now, go get your sister, and let’s finish this.”

Kain’s smile lit up his face. Rave really wanted to crawl back into that bed and taste the smile, but he had to protect his family. The possibility that Kain could be a part of that family again put a smile on his face. He left Kain in his room and headed to the bridge.

“What’s with the sappy grin?” Se inquired.

Leave it to Se to break the mood.

“Not a thing. Is it all clear to get on planet?” Rave looked out at New Moon.

“We’ve got the go ahead. You bringing Mel here?”

“That’s the plan, but you know how she can be,” he said with a ruthful grin.

“Yes, I do. Good luck with that,” Se managed to say as she keyed a sequence into the ships computers.

“Maybe you should go.” Rave bumped shoulders with Se.

“I never took you for a chicken.”

“Don’t start with me, Se.”

She gave him an innocent look, one that had always spelled trouble.

“I’m not the one starting anything. Maybe you should check the coms before you start going all hot and heavy.”

The burn on his face could only be caused by a blush, but he never blushed anymore. Yet here he was, like a schoolgirl being teased about her first crush.

“Damn it. You listened in on us?”

“No.” She laughed. “But your face gave you away.”

“This isn’t any of your business.”

“No, it isn’t. But I will say that I’m happy for you. He’d just better not fuck up this time.”

Rave gave a sharp nod and turned towards the docking bay so he could leave the ship. There would be time enough to think about Kain later. Right now, he had a sister to save.

Chapter Six

After Rave left, Kain leapt up to get ready for the day. Se still wanted to talk to him, and he preferred to get it over with before Rave and Mel arrived back on the ship. Things were turning in his favour, and he didn’t want to strain the new start with tension between him and Se.

He walked onto the ship’s deck and watched Se work. He’d missed her, too. They’d grown up together, and he thought of her as a sister. The one thing Kain could be grateful for was Se. She’d been there for Rave when he couldn’t be.

“You just going to stand there looking pretty, or are you coming in?”

He shook his head and entered the room. “How do you
do
that?”

“Do what?”

“Know when someone is behind you?”

She laughed. “Magic.”

Kain grinned. “I am here on your orders.”

“You’re a little early.”

“I thought now would be a good time to talk.”

“You aren’t talking. You’re going to sit there and listen to me.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He tried to keep it light because he was afraid of what she’d say.

She turned and raised her eyebrow at him then went back to the monitors she worked on.

“I’m glad you and Rave are ‘talking’, but you have to take it slow. Rushing in now is a
bad
idea. I don’t think you really understand what he went through on that planet. When I picked him up, he was a shell of his former self. It took months for him to sleep through the night without screaming. He wouldn’t talk about what happened unless he was drunk, and that first year, he drank a lot. The alcohol didn’t always stop the dreams. Once, he finally gave up on you, things got a little better, but he still wasn’t the Rave I knew and loved. He did stop drinking, but he wasn’t happy.”

“Fuck, Se, you think I’m happy about all of this? If I could have switched places with him, I would have. I didn’t want—”

“I’m not finished.”

She finally turned away from the machines to look at him. The pain in her eyes stopped him from saying anything else. Did he really want to hear what she had to say? He feared what her next words would be, but if Rave could physically go through hell, he would at least have the balls to listen. He settled into one of the seats, his heart in his throat.

“On a particularly bad night, he’d downed a bottle of whisky, and he told what happened when he first landed on the planet. The ship dropped them off and left them to check in. The guards processed them then the prisoners were on their own. I want to stress that part—that he was on his own. The whole transport ship knew he was military. The fucking guards announced it. Word spread fast. The thing they don’t tell the general public is the inmates on the planet ‘initiate’ the new drop offs. A group of thugs waited for the guards to leave and turned on the new guys. Rave tried to run, but it was a lost cause against a group of angry, hungry guys.

“They caught him, beat him and raped him. That was the first few minutes. It took the medical crew two days to find him. He told me the only thing that kept him sane was knowing you were out there somewhere. He kept thinking you had to be okay, that you would save him.

“After they released him from the medical unit, he went into hiding, scavenging food when he could. Like he always says, one day was a day too much. Do you understand his hatred now? That first year, he still had hope that you would save him from himself. He needed you, and no one knew where you were.”