Andrei guided her past, his hand at the small of her back. “Interesting.”
Crew showed up and began to unlock the tethers holding the transport in place. “Get settled then. We’ll be on our way momentarily.”
The transport was as fine as the Portal to her eyes. Public transports were more stripped down, but this was not so at all. Sumptuous fabrics covered lush seating areas as they made their way to the staterooms.
And when he opened the door and motioned her inside, she stood, still beyond impressed with the lodgings.
He locked the door and dropped his bag. “Sit down. We’ll be shifting soon toward the Portal and get moving.”
The flutter in her belly was partly due to that but mainly due to him. To his presence so very near.
True to the captain’s word, they were under way and sliding through the Portal not too very long after she’d settled on the bed, her stocking feet up.
“I’ll order some food and drink once we get the green light.” He moved through the room, looking at everything. Running scans.
“Aren’t these people on our side? Why do we need to look for listening devices?”
“I trust very few people. Least of all total strangers.” He continued to work, and she continued to watch.
“Where did you learn to move like that?”
He finished, putting the scanner away and settled at the small table, bending to remove his boots. “Like what?”
“You . . . I don’t know how to describe it really, but you’re sort of a shadow. All these people all around you, and you glide through them like water or a wind. They don’t even see you, and you’re right there! When we were . . . out last night, there were four men looking for you. They walked right past you as if you weren’t there. I don’t remember you having that before.”
He shrugged.
“Do you need to imbibe a great deal of liquor before you say more than four words at a time? Or, your cock in my mouth?”
Oh, she loved the way he paused and straightened, his gaze locked on her like a hungry predator.
“I don’t know where it came from.”
“Did they train you to do that?”
“They trained in surveillance and the avoidance of detection. Stealth is necessary for what I do.”
“But with you, it’s more. Isn’t it?”
He licked his lips. “It’s something I’m good at, yes.”
“What do you think when you do it? Is it something you do on purpose?”
His smile was quick and bright and gone within moments. Piper loved his smile, loved evoking emotion from him.
“What? I’m curious, Andrei. I want to know. You left as this boy, barely a man, who had so much anger. Always moving. And you came back thoughtful, accomplished and with this amazing capacity to do all the things you’ve done. I’m . . . I’m amazed by you.”
How could he resist it? “I don’t think about anything. I just turn it all over to my instincts. If I think on it, I stumble. I let the white noise swallow me up, and I flow through it. My gut understands exactly where I should step, how I should move and when. I give myself to that.”
Her eyes lit, and he didn’t regret sharing.
“You’re a gifted pilot. Did you ever consider staying in the corps?” He changed the subject as he keyed in an order for refreshments and sent a coded message to Julian, letting him know they were on the way and that the mine had had an explosion. He’d fill them in when they arrived. He hesitated and then added that he wasn’t traveling alone. Better to not let her presence be a surprise.
“Not really. It was very—I enjoyed the things I learned, but that life wasn’t for me. And they couldn’t guarantee I’d get an assignment as a pilot. Without that, why not go back home to my life and my family? The skills were transferable.” Her grin was quick and beautiful.
“Forever? I’m not judging what you do, so get that look off your mouth, it’s too lovely for you to mar it with that grimace.”
She relaxed, looking quite satisfied.
He found himself saying things he hadn’t intended to around her a lot. She did things to him, made him want to please her and make her happy.
She shrugged. “It keeps us fed. Keeps the power working and our people clothed. Not a lot of options out here, you know. I tried to get hired on as a pilot for the Portals, but the wait list is years long. I’m still on it.”
He’d look into that, because running cargo might be lucrative, but it would be increasingly difficult to do as this thing between the Federation and the Imperialists was heating up and travel would be restricted. It had already started, and it would only continue to get worse. He didn’t want her caught up in any raids or other nonsense.
She deserved a life free from want. Free from strife. He’d spent a lot of time—years of his life—doing the right thing, putting by for that time when he’d need the power and credits he’d accumulated. Now was that time, and he meant to use it to make her life better.
“We should arrive in half a day’s time.”
He leaned back in the chair, trying not to think about taking her again. And failing.
“Do they know I’m coming with you?” Her voice was so casual he suspected her instantly. There was nothing casual about Piper Roundtree. She was up to something.
“I sent them notice of that, yes.”
“How did you describe me?” She fluttered her lashes, and he groaned.
“I should have told them you were a beautiful pain in the ass. They know I’m working with you. They know you have some details about what we’re doing.”
“Beautiful? Do you think I am?” Her face held no teasing, and though he could have made light and the hurt would have given her some distance from him, he hadn’t the will to intentionally harm her.
“Yes.”
She smiled, satisfied and totally female. “Good. Now, tell me about them. Or is this a top secret thing, and I’ll have to wear a blindfold and be taken to a hidden facility with retinal and DNA scans? Will I have to take an oath?” She didn’t bother hiding her amusement, and he rolled his eyes.
However, a blindfold, well now, that was an alluring idea. Had merit. He tucked it away for the moment.
“They’ll assume that as you’re with me, you can be trusted. You won’t be privy to everything, naturally, but you won’t have to take any oaths. It’s a private residence where my friends are staying.”
“No top secret headquarters?” She mock-pouted.
“Maybe next time.”
“Will you get in trouble for bringing me? I’ll wait in town if that’s the case. I don’t want you to be disciplined or anything.”
His wrist comm crackled as Daniel’s hail burst through. He looked to her and then back down, answering.
“You’re on your way then? Good. Get those samples and that disk to Vincenz immediately. We’ve got some movement out there. The Imperialists have filed an official complaint with the civilian government in Asphodel. Apparently some of their people have disappeared, and they’re claiming it was a military corps operation.”
Andrei lifted a shoulder. “By the by, there was an explosion in the early hours, just before sunrise. In the Wastelands, I’m told.”
The corner of Daniel’s mouth lifted. “Did the symbol get left?”
Roman Lyons, the leader of the Federation Universes, the most powerful man in all the Known Universes, had ordered all Phantom Corps operatives to leave a lion’s head coin at the scene any time they’d put a stop to Imperialist trouble. He wanted them to know he would wipe them all off the face of all the ’Verses if he had to.
As such things went, Andrei thought, it was spooky and took the sort of aggressive tack the situation needed.
“Delivered via courier.” Straight to Jan Karl’s apartments in town, left on his doorstep.
“Good.”
He relayed some more information and signed off.
“He’s your boss?”
He looked up to her. “Of a sort. Yes.”
Before he could break out the kerchief to create a makeshift blindfold, the food arrived, and they ate in companionable silence.
She reached out to draw her thumb just beneath his eyes. “You need to rest.”
He did. Exhaustion, no real stranger to his life, had sapped his strength, and he was operating on the last dregs of his stores.
“Come, let’s nap. I promise your virtue is safe. For the time being, anyway.”
He allowed her to draw him to the bed, putting her closest to the wall so he could lie on the outside, being the barrier between the door and her safety.
She pressed against his back, her arms around him, face against his back. Taking care of him. Making sure he ate and rested. It had been a very long time since he’d felt this way.
Sleep came fast and deep with her scent in his system.
Chapter 12
J
ulian answered the door and instantly locked on to Piper. He smiled and held his hand out. “You must be Piper. Come in.”
They followed him inside and down the long entry hall toward the office and labs.
“I’m Julian, and that over there is Vincenz. He’s had his head in those calculations and the code for days, it seems.” He took Piper’s hands, squeezing them. He called back over his shoulder, “Vincenz, come and meet Piper.”
Andrei noted the easy way the two had, feeling less worried when he saw Julian’s sadness had ceased carving runnels of pain into his face. The sadness was there, but it wasn’t stamped over him so desperately.
“While he finishes, why don’t you two settle in? The guest room is all ready. I had a meal ordered, so we can eat while you debrief. Ellis will be joining us.”
That took him by surprise. “Via vid?”
“No. He’s taking care of some business in town, but he’ll be back shortly. I’m surprised you didn’t bump into him when you were at the Portal Station.”
With a nod, Andrei led Piper,
quiet
Piper, down the corridor until they’d reached the guest sleeping quarters and they dropped their things off.
“Clean clothes in the closet,” Julian called out from the other side of the door.
He needed them. He hadn’t even changed when they’d returned from their trip to the Wastelands. He’d need a long, hot shower, but with Ellis there, it meant something big—bigger than usual—was happening. He’d need to keep on his game and save the relaxation for later.
“Drop your clothes in that basket there, and we’ll have them cleaned up.” He told her this as he did it himself.
“Who is Ellis?”
He sighed, wavering on what to tell her. Not that he didn’t trust her, but each thing she learned put her in more danger. At the same time, it was robbing her of information that could actually save her in the future if he didn’t tell her.
“He’s the boss. The big boss.”
“I thought Roman Lyons was the big boss.” She stripped her shirt off, and his gaze roved over her upper body, especially her breasts and the love bite on the swell of her hip.
“He’s just one size down from that.”
“Should I be afraid?”
Knowing Ellis, he’d love Piper the moment he met her. The man had a thing for women like Piper. Hells, Roman’s wife, Abbie, had the nearly seven-foot-tall Ellis wrapped about her finger. She even called him Wil.
“No.” In any case, no one would harm her as long as Andrei could draw a breath.
“Andrei, how much stuff do you have in all those pockets?” She watched, eyes wide, as he pulled all the samples and the chip from various places. “You’re like one of those animals with a pocket on their body to carry their offspring in.”
He sighed inwardly, moving to the closet to grab the clean clothes. Julian hadn’t missed a detail. Clothing in Piper’s size hung there as well. He tossed a few things her way.
“Nothing luxurious, but certainly clean and comfortable.”
“How long had he known I was coming? Did you tell him my size?”
She peeled the rest of her clothes off, and he leaned back against the door to watch. He should have taken her in the transport. It would be hours of debrief and work before he’d have her alone again, and they had no time just then.
“Makes me feel better when you look at me that way.” She smoothed her hands down the front of the blouse she’d just put on. “This is lovely. Thank you.”
“He’s detail-oriented.” Andrei left it at that. Of course her personal information, including photographs, was in a file somewhere, and that’s most likely where Julian had gotten the idea of her size.
She moved to him, putting her arms around his waist and tipping her chin up to look at his face. “If you need me to leave the room, just ask. I promise I won’t give you any guff in front of these men. I know this is important.”
Before he could stop himself, he dipped his head to taste her mouth, staying for a while because she was too delicious to resist.