Leaving behind the raucous party in the hall, Fari pulled Caleb by his hand as they sped toward the steps leading to the second floor.
“Wait,” she said, drawing him into a shadowed corner. Then she reached inside herself, conjuring a vision of herself and Caleb hurrying down the corridor toward their room, should anyone be looking.
“Damn eerie,” he whispered beside her. “Hey! I look pretty good from the back, too.”
She snorted and turned to let him see her roll her eyes. Then they rushed up the steps while she flared again, blocking them from sight.
As they approached Hippolyta’s chamber, Caleb’s fingers wrapped around Fari’s wrist.
Seeing his alert expression, she felt a shiver of dread slide down her spine. “What do you see?” she whispered.
“We’re not the only ones here.” He jerked his chin toward the door, to indicate that someone was inside the queen’s chamber.
They both reached for the curved blades they’d strapped to their legs. Then Caleb pushed her back and entered the room.
On his heels and fuming, Fari entered in turn, going right when he went left, throwing a flare to hide them from the man rifling through a trunk beside the queen’s large, four-poster bed, tossing jeweled necklaces and silky robes behind him. It was the same Greek Fari had encountered at the dock.
Behind the filmy curtain of her flare, they crept closer, but Caleb’s next step made a floorboard creak.
The man at the chest whirled, an ornate golden belt in his hands. His gaze narrowed as if he was trying to penetrate her visual shield.
The very thought shocked Fari. No one had ever detected it before. Suddenly, she felt a force battering her, and she raised her hands, punching at the air to hold the flare in place. But it was weakening, shredding around her and Caleb.
Dagger raised, Caleb leaped past the shield, launching himself toward the Centaurian. But the man just grinned and placed his hands around the amulet at the center of the belt.
His body shimmered, glowed, and then winked out—along with the belt. Which answered the lingering question of whether the belt held any special powers.
“Dammit,” Caleb said, stopping his forward momentum with a hand against the far wall.
Next, footsteps sounded outside the door. Caleb and Fari shared a charged glance. If they were caught, there’d be nothing left to do but activate their cuffs, the mission compromised.
She motioned for him to stand beside the door as it opened, creating a quick flare to melt them into the plastered wall. Fari held her breath, her fingers gripping Caleb’s forearm.
Theseus walked in backward, laughing, with Hippolyta waltzing after him. But when she glanced up, she shoved the Greek aside and stormed to her chest.
“Guards!” she screamed.
Amazons rushed into the room, crowding around the queen.
Hippolyta’s features formed a fierce scowl. “My belt’s been stolen. Lock the doors of the palace. Send sentries to the gates. If he knows how to use it—”
“How can you be sure it was a man?” Theseus asked.
Hippolyta’s eyes flashed. “You’re right. The new girl. I saw her leave minutes ago with her Celt. Find them.”
Fari grabbed Caleb’s arm and pulled him behind her. They fled down the stairs and along the corridor, hearing footsteps stomping behind them. They made it to their door before the guards turned the corner.
Inside the room, Fari ripped off her gown. Caleb tore away his robe. Then they both dived for the bed.
When the door swung back, slamming hard against the wall, and guards charged inside, Fari crawled off the mattress, breathless, but hoping they interpreted it for another reason.
Hippolyta swept inside. Her gaze went from Fari to Caleb. She stalked closer to the bed and threw off his covering.
Caleb opened his arms.
Fari glanced behind her and cursed, but needn’t have bothered. Caleb sported an impressive erection. His gaze followed the monarch’s eyes downward, and then he gave her a thin, one-sided smile before placing his hands behind his head as though it was an everyday occurrence to be rousted out of a bed during lovemaking.
“What’s happened, my queen?” Fari asked.
Hippolyta’s head swung toward her. “All Amazons are gathering in the hall.”
Fari, though nude, crossed an arm over her waist and bowed. “I’ll dress and be there momentarily.”
The guards and the queen backed out of the room. The door closed.
Fari turned to eye Caleb. “Do you suppose we were saved by a hard-on?”
Caleb winked. “I’ve been this way all evening. It was that damn gown and the thought of easy access….”
Fari snorted and shook her head. “Let’s get to the hall. All hell’s breaking loose, and we need to be in front of it.” She slipped his tunic and trousers from a peg and tossed them at him, then quickly started dressing in her own warrior’s gear. “I guess we know the artifact is the real thing.”
“But did it allow him to flare, like you do? Or did he actually…”
“Teleport?” Fari sighed. “Hell if I know, but he sure seemed to understand exactly how to use it.”
“So he’s our Centaurian. But without his navigator’s headband, or he would have used it to get back to his ship rather than activating the belt. He can’t leave without it. I doubt he’d have it stashed very far from here.”
Fari nodded, glad Caleb was thinking, because for a moment there her mind had frozen. “Can you track him?”
“Maybe. The traces I follow will be muddied if very many people have crossed his path.”
Any remaining suspicions around Caleb and Fari quickly cleared. A head count of all the guests revealed that one of the Greeks was missing.
The Amazons had gathered, some still dressed in their party robes and others pulling on their warrior clothing. All were armed. Both Fari and Caleb had come armed with daggers, bows and battle-axes.
“It seems your instincts regarding the man were true, Sarmatian,” Hippolyta said, nodding toward Fari.
Standing with the Amazons, she addressed the queen. “How is it that he managed to elude all of you without being seen?”
“My belt, my gift from Ares,” Hippolyta said, with a frustrated wave of her hand. “It allows the wearer to move from one place to another in an instant. He may only have shifted outside the palace walls.”
“Over what kind of distance is the belt capable of moving a person?”
The queen shrugged. “Only as far as the dock, or the outer gate.”
“He knew what he was looking for, so it seems he was aware of its powers,” Fari said, thinking fast. “Perhaps he’s transported himself to the dock and hopes to escape with the belt by boat.”
Hippolyta nodded, then swung toward the Amazons. “Half of you to the docks. The rest to the outer gate.”
“May I ride with those going to the gate? My servant is a skilled tracker. If the thief is outside, he may find his trail.”
Hippolyta pointed to three of her guards. “Go with them.” To Fari, she said, “Find my belt and you’ve earned your place with me.”
Fari dashed away the pride that swelled in her chest. She was duty bound to betray Hippolyta. She bowed, stealing one last mental “snapshot” of the legendary monarch. Then, with a glance at the women assigned to ride with her, she said, “To your horses. We’ll meet you at the outer gate.”
As everyone scattered, she grabbed Caleb’s arm. “Don’t bother with saddles,” she whispered. “We’ll have to hurry to keep ahead of the guards.”
Within minutes, they were galloping for the first set of gates. Alerted to the trouble, the guard already had them open, and they galloped through the narrow streets.
At the outer gate, she paused to question the sentry on the wallwalk above the gate. “Did you see anyone outside the palisade?” she shouted, pulling back on her reins. “It wouldn’t have been long ago.”
“One of the Greeks was on horseback,” the woman shouted down. “I spotted him outside the gate, riding toward the west
Fari waved, then waited as another guard operated the pulleys to open the large bronze grille. Then she touched her heels to her horse’s sides and sped down the rutted road.
As Caleb pulled alongside her, she shouted, “Is there a trail?”
“One rider in front of us,” he said, grinning. “Lit like a Christmas tree. We’re right behind him.”
Caleb rode, only part of his attention on the road and his surroundings. His focus was on the wisps of green light ahead of him. A horse. A rider. In the center of the road. Then suddenly, the pair veered off the path, toward the ridge above.
Not bothering to signal Fari, because she was right on his horse’s tail, Caleb reined right, leaned low over his mount’s neck and flew up the slope. Near the top were boulders and a stand of conifers. The ghostly green shadow weaved among the trees, although he appeared to be slowing down, because his outline was sharper, the green color more brilliant.
Caleb held up a fist to warn Fari, and slowed his roan.
The trees were thicker here, the darkness pressing around them. The rider ahead of them dismounted.
Caleb did the same. He listened for the sounds of Fari following, but kept his gaze ahead, peering into the darkness.
So many places to hide. His heart thudded. His breathing deepened as he focused. If the Centaurian knew he was being followed, he might strike out. The only way to keep Fari safe was to meet him first.
Caleb tied his horse to a branch, glanced around for Fari and motioned again for her to stay behind him. Then he took off through the trees.
His footsteps crunched on the pine needles, but there was no point in being quiet. They didn’t have time. If the Centaurian reached his headband, they would fail.
Ahead, he caught sight of another wisp, then a darker, blacker shadow. The figure bent near the base of a tall tree that leaned at a slant, half uprooted.
Caleb stalked closer, careful to muffle his footfalls now.
But the Centaurian stiffened, glancing over his shoulder.
Before he could reach the belt glinting beside him, Caleb leaped, taking the alien to the ground.
Immediately, Caleb knew he was in trouble. His opponent was preternaturally powerful, and without the impediment of a weakened shoulder.
Caleb plunged his fist into the alien’s side while wrapping his injured arm around the Centaurian’s body to hold him. “Fari,” he gasped. “Get the belt and jump!”
“Got it!”
The Centaur roared, slammed his fist into Caleb’s shoulder and leaped off him to run after Fari.
Caleb saw stars for a moment, then shook his head and lunged to his feet.
He heard hoofbeats in the distance, knew Fari had gotten to her horse to lead the Centaurian away from him. “Dammit, this is no time to be a hero, woman!”
Caleb ran for his own mount and swung up, then kicked it into a gallop, following the traces of the two figures ahead of him. They were weaving through the trees toward a clearing that dropped away sharply to the sea.
In the moonlight now, he watched Fari zigzag left and right, then pull hard on her reins to head toward the cliff. The Centaurian was gaining on her.
Suddenly, the ground in front of both riders fell away, the cliff wall crumbling.
Caleb knew it was a flare. But so did the Centaurian. However, both horses balked, shying to the side, backs arching, bucking in revolt. Fari held tight to her mount’s reins, her expression focused as she threw another flare.
Caleb’s heart stopped for a beat as he saw a huge, golden gryphon diving toward the Centaurian’s horse, wings extended and flapping. It dipped toward the animal, claws outstretched, then pulled up sharply, only to dive again.
The Centaurian’s horse bucked harder, twisting and jouncing the rider on its back. The alien roared again, his head thrown back in rage.
Caleb rode straight for him, reached out at the last moment and took him to the ground.
The jolt numbed his shoulder, but Caleb rolled, and rolled again. When they stopped, the Centaurian was on top, his hand raised above his head, something glinting silver in his grasp.
The alien had Caleb’s good arm pinned, and his bad shoulder was still too numb for him to lift his arm. With grim acceptance, he tried one last time to save himself, digging his heels into the ground to buck.
As though in slow motion, the dagger arced toward him, then slipped from Centaurian’s grasp. All expression drained from him as he slumped to the side.
Fari stood over them both, a large rock held in her hands.
“A rock? You had a damn ax and you used a rock?”
She shrugged. “I was afraid it would glance off him.”
In the distance, they heard the pounding of hooves. Within moments the Amazons would be upon them.
Caleb came up on his good side. “Got the belt?”
Fari bent to swipe the object from the ground. “Got it.”
“Now activate that damn cuff—
ma’am
.”
Fari’s gaze held his for a long moment, then one corner of her mouth quirked up. “Ladies first?”
Fari knocked on Professor Carswell’s office door and poked her head inside. Caleb was there, pulling a brown army T-shirt over his head.
She cleared her throat. “How’s the shoulder?”
He gave her a crooked smile. “Good as new. You were right. No use holding on to a souvenir.” Turning, he unbuttoned his camouflage pants and tucked his shirt into the waistband.
How awkward was this? She knew every inch of his body, but now, back in the present, neither of them seemed comfortable with the intimate knowledge they shared. Since the moment they’d returned, everything had been back to business. They’d been led away separately to be debriefed. Last night, she’d slept alone in her assigned quarters. This was the first time she’d had a chance to catch Caleb alone.
Fari leaned against the door frame, striving to appear casual, while she gave his body secret glances, committing every line and bulge to memory. “The alien hieroglyphics on the medallion are pointing toward Salerno, Italy. Another team’s being prepped for a jump.”
“Seems like we’re done here.”
“Yeah.” She wet her lips. “Look, Caleb…”
He gave her a wink, but shook his head in warning. “I’m not good at goodbyes, Lieutenant.”
Anger kindled, burning like a match to black powder. “Putting words in my mouth now?” she asked, lifting her chin and stepping closer. “Do you think that’s what I wanted to say? Goodbye?”
“Just tryin’ to make the moment easier for you, sugar,” he answered softly.
“I don’t need anyone making
anything
easy for me. By the way, it’s ma’am to you.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
But the way he said it, like warm, sticky syrup, doused her anger. She swung away to keep him from reading too much from her features. “I have a month’s leave. Time accrued. General Ashton arranged with my unit for a little R and R.”
“Me, too,” Caleb said, his tone neutral.
Stealing herself against rejection, she glanced over her shoulder. “Have any plans?”
“Depends.”
“On…?”
“Whether you’re into breaking some rules,” he said softly.
Her heart stuttered and then hammered faster. “I hardly ever do.”
“I would have guessed never. I read your military record, too, Farideh.”
“Oh, so you know.”
“That you’re Military Intelligence and assigned to a spec-ops unit where you routinely accompany small tactical teams, to shield them while they perform key extractions? Yes.”
His staccato delivery revealed how much he didn’t like the idea.
“So you know why I don’t like sticky relationships.”
His hands fisted on his hips. “Probably for the same reasons I don’t,” he said, his gaze hard as steel. “Who wants to leave someone behind?”
Did she still feel that way? She wasn’t so sure anymore. Fari took a deep breath. “I made a mistake.”
Caleb dropped his hands and stepped closer. “Don’t you dare call what happened between us a mistake.”
Forced to tilt her head, she fought feeling vulnerable, but couldn’t help the sudden welling of tears that blurred his face. “That’s not it. I don’t have a single regret. You were perfect. We were…”
“Amazing, yeah,” he growled, crowding her against the door frame.
“My mistake was not telling you that I care, that I wouldn’t mind getting to know you better,” she whispered.
His chest rose, then slowly fell with a long exhalation. “And there I was, thinkin’ I was the only one feelin’ a little naked here.”
“I don’t mind naked.”
His smile stretched slowly across his face. “And I’m still waitin’ to taste that cream.” Caleb’s strong hands cupped her face in the gentlest caress.
A moan leaked from her mouth as she raised herself up on her tiptoes. His head bent, his blue eyes blazing like the hot center of a torch’s flame. When their lips met, Fari felt herself spiraling down, end over end, in a dizzying swirl of emotion.
Caleb broke the kiss and leaned his forehead against hers while his hands roamed her curves. “Think you can hold a flare while you’re makin’ love?”
“Not gonna wait until we get to one of our rooms?”
“Would it be as much fun?”
Fari shook her head at his teasing tone. “Can we at least close the door?”
“Uh-uh. Whole point’s to see how well you can concentrate. A test of your talent. Uncle Sam’ll thank me.”
“That what you’ll tell the general if we’re caught?”
He arched his eyebrow and Fari laughed, and then groaned, because she was seriously considering his naughty suggestion. “But the noise!”
“Baby, I’ve got an idea about how to muffle your screams.”
“I bet you do, but I was thinking about yours.”
Caleb’s masculine snort made her smile.
His hands cupped her bottom and raised her from the floor.
She wrapped her legs tightly around his waist.
“Just get us back to your room,
ma’am
.”
Fari blended them into the plain decor of the hallway while planting kisses on Caleb’s grinning mouth. “This is a real talent,” he said. “I’m imagining the possibilities now.”
“Have a fetish for sex in public places?”
“I do when it’s with you, sweetheart.”
Fari melted against his strong chest. “Think we can make this work?”
“If you’re willing, I’m there. But no bones about it. I don’t want you back in the theater.”
“Think that shouldn’t work both ways?”
“It should. But I told you before, I’m hard-wired a certain way. I can’t be strong if you’re risking your neck when I can’t be there to cover your ass.”
Fari smiled against his skin. She didn’t think now would be quite the right time to mention that General Ashton had already made a suggestion to Caleb’s division commander. One about how to augment his talent with another psychic component. They’d be heading back to serve in the same unit in Iraq, which would be tricky for them trying to hide their relationship from others, but it would be worth it to spend more time together.
She didn’t imagine it would go over very well, but at least they’d be there to protect each other for the rest of their tours in the desert.
And what would happen after that? Well, she had time to wear him down. She tightened her thighs around his waist.
Beginning right now.
She nuzzled his ear and bit his lobe.
“Baby, hold that thought. Almost there.”
“What if I don’t want to wait that long?”
His eyebrows shot up. “You sure? What about the noise?”
“I’m thinking you’d better let me down now, to muffle me good.”
His grin was filled with pure delight. He sent a quick glance up and down the hallway, then eased her to the ground.
Fari made short work of his buckle and zipper, then sank to her knees. “Better pinch me to keep me focused,” she said, drawing his erection out of his pants. “Can’t drop that flare now.”
“Sweet Jesus. Did I tell you how sexy you are?”
“Not yet. But I imagine everyone in the building will know it in just a few minutes.”
“Think I’ll cave that quickly?”
“It’s inevitable.” She gave him a long, languid lick. “Now who’s the cat?”
Caleb dropped Fari on her bunk with a growl. The flare she’d thrown of cardboard boxes stacked in the hallway had shredded the moment he’d stroked into her mouth. Thankfully, there hadn’t been anyone around to see them while he’d righted his clothing, then swooped her up into his arms.
Her eyes still twinkled with laughter.
Caleb narrowed his own while he bent to unlace his boots. “You think it’s funny. You’re the ranking soldier. Think they wouldn’t have written you up?”
Her grin stretched across her face. “The General and I had a little talk before I came to see you. She made sure folks were busy elsewhere.”
He cocked his head to the side. “Is she matchmaking?” With two kicks his boots flew toward the far wall.
“She wouldn’t dare, but she does understand. Soldiers in the heat of battle and all…”
Caleb shoved his pants down and stepped out of them. “Is that what this is? We’re just blowing off steam?”
Fari’s smile dimmed. “It’s more than that. I think you know it.”
Caleb pulled his T-shirt over his head, naked now, and frowning because she was still fully clothed. He caught one of her feet between his thighs and went to work on the laces of her boot. “I don’t want to be your furlough fling, Fari. I want more than that.”
“I do too.” When both her boots were gone, she opened her pants and let him tug them off. Then she sat at the edge of the bed while he rucked up her shirt. Before her arms were free, he opened the clasp of her bra.
With her arms raised and her head caught in her tee, Caleb pushed her down to the mattress and followed her down. “We should set some rules of engagement.”
“Engagement?” she said, her voice muffled in the fabric. “That’s a dangerous word.”
His hands cupped her breasts, thumbs strumming her spiked nipples. “Because you’d never consider an enlisted man as husband material?” Thinking maybe he wasn’t ready to hear her reply, he bent and drew one tip into his mouth and suckled.
Fari’s sigh was audible. “I might consider it,” she said, laughter in her voice. “With the right man.”
Might?
Caleb rubbed her nipple with his tongue, then bit it.
She gasped, then wrestled with her shirt, at last pulling it the rest of the way off and flinging it toward the floor. Her cheeks were rosy, but her brown eyes were soft when she met his gaze. “I know you’d rather keep this light, but I think we’re way past fun and games.”
Caleb grunted. “Got me all figured out?”
“I think I do. You’re afraid of dying and leaving someone behind to grieve. I am too. But there aren’t any guarantees in this life.”
This wasn’t the conversation he wanted. Not right at this moment. He released her nipple but continued plucking it with his fingertips. “We have seven more months to survive,” he murmured. “Maybe we should have this little talk when we’re stateside again.”
Fari stroked his hair with her fingers, lightly scratching his scalp, soothing him. His eyelids dipped.
“I don’t want to wait, Caleb. I can’t keep the things I’m feeling inside to myself. Not when we’re like this. You flirted and teased all the while we were on the mission. You got me here. You can’t pull away now.”
He snorted. “Wasn’t plannin’ on pullin’ away, sweetheart.”
She pulled his hair. “You know what I mean. I’m in this for the long haul. If you’re not, you can stop what you’re doing right now.”
Only one little two-letter word would stop him now. And he wasn’t a coward. If she needed to know where she stood with him, he’d play fair.
His fingers pinched her nipple and released it. He scooted up her body and angled a knee between her legs, opening them. When he’d settled his body between her legs, he locked his gaze with hers. “Does it look like I’m not in deep, Fari? Do you really think I don’t realize something’s happening between us, sweetheart?”
Her eyebrows furrowed. “Well, how am I supposed to know? That’s the first time you’ve called me that.”
One corner of his mouth quirked up. “I prefer ‘mistress’. Can’t think of a woman I’d rather follow around. Whatever you want of me, I’ll give it. I’m at your command.”
Fari trailed her fingers downward, scratching down his back. His breaths quickened. Her heart pounded so hard he could feel against his skin.
“I was never so scared,” she whispered, “as when that bastard had you pinned and I saw a knife in his hand.”
“Baby, I was ready to strangle you myself when you didn’t jump the moment you had that damn belt. My heart stopped. If anything had happened to you…” He shook his head, then kissed her hard.
Fari’s kiss was every bit as fierce.
When they both came up for air, the time for talk had passed. He reached down and placed the tip of his cock at her entrance, then met her glance again. He wrapped his arms beneath her, embracing her, then thrust upward, sliding deep.
They both groaned loudly then chuckled.
“It’s never felt like this,” she whispered.
He pulled away then stroked her again. “Hold that thought, darlin’.”
They moved together and apart. And he couldn’t have formed the words to save his life, not right then, but her moist heat felt like heaven clenching tightly around him. “Not gonna last long.”
“Don’t worry about.” She nipped his shoulder. “I’m right there. Promise.”
However, he wasn’t ready to concede. He pulled away, forcing her legs down, then flipped her beneath him. When she was on her knees, he bent close to blanket her back and pressed kisses against her shoulders and neck. “I could get used to this.”
“Hope you never do,” she gasped as he centered himself again and thrust home. Her back sank. Her arms trembled, but she pushed backward, meeting his thrusts again and again.
Striving for control over his own quickly spiraling arousal, Caleb leaned away and cupped her buttocks, caressing the soft mounds, then he gave each a light slap.
She yelped and glanced over her shoulder, her flinty gaze issuing a challenge he was only too happy to accept.
“Ready to ride, cowboy?”
He grinned and circled his hips, loving the way she bit her lip and closed her eyes. “Liked that, did you?”
“Do it again,” she said, turning to stare straight ahead.
With her channel rippling up and down his shaft, Caleb gave her another swirling caress then paused to gather his strength.
Her pussy tightened around him. She pushed her bottom against him, urging him silently to move. “Caleb!” she moaned.
He liked the way that sounded. Liked that hint of a feminine whine and her soft pants.
Her slender back quivered. Her bottom jutted again. A light sheen of sweat glaze her bronze skin. It was a view straight out of his wildest fantasies.
Caleb cupped her buttocks again and molded them in his hands, then hammered against her soft bottom, his cock sliding through hot, wet silk.
Her moans came faster, interspersed with choked mutters. “Faster, dammit. Oh please, please.”
He slid a hand around her hip, his fingertips sliding downward into the top of her folds. He toggled her clitoris, satisfied at finding it hard and distended and pumped his hips harder.