Sons of Lyra: Runaway Hearts (6 page)

He stopped kissing her and
pushed her backwards, his eyes searching hers. She kept the answer
to their question hidden inside. He didn’t need to know. Closing
her eyes to hide from him, she grasped hold of his shoulders and
raised herself up the length of his cock. She moaned at the
delicious friction and then eased back down. It felt so good. Her
teacher had never told her how good it was.

She moved again, slowly
building a rhythm that had him breathing hard and her heart
thundering. He grabbed her hips, assisting her, and slid further
down the chair. Her pussy hit his pelvis on the way down and she
groaned at the sweep of pleasure that spread from her
clit.

Her eyes opened and she
stared into his, losing herself in him and the feeling of their
joined bodies. It was divine. His breath was hot against her skin,
washing over her, his fingers grasping her waist. He tensed beneath
her and she moaned hoarsely when he bucked up inside her, hard and
rough. She moved faster, sliding up and down his cock, riding it
into oblivion. He dragged her back to him and kissed her so deep
that she lost all sense of who she was and who he was. They became
one inside her, one mind and one heart, one soul and set of
feelings. She clung to him, moaning into his mouth with each thrust
of his cock into her. Her whole body tightened.

So did his.

He groaned against her
lips, deep and strained, as he came, shooting his seed deep into
her. She pressed her cheek against his and kept going, reaching for
her own orgasm.

It came swift and fast,
rushing through her like molten lava and leaving her breathless.
Bright white sparks burst against the darkness of her closed eyes.
She buried her face into his neck and stilled, keeping him inside
her and breathing hard against him as she trembled.

That definitely wasn’t
like her teacher had told her it would be.

His arms wrapped around
her, holding her close. She nuzzled his neck and leaned hard
against him, sagging in his embrace and memorising how comfortable
she felt.

Sebastian stroked her
hair, his fingers loosening it from the bun at the back of her head
and combing through the long dark length of it. Her breath was hot
against his throat but was becoming steady. He knew she’d never
admit that she was a virgin, and she hadn’t acted like one. She’d
been incredibly skilled and confident for one without any real
knowledge of what she’d been doing. He held her closer, a need to
protect her rising up inside him, and kissed her exposed shoulder.
Her breasts pressed against his chest, warm and soft.

He hadn’t
expected this to happen with her, and he got the impression neither
had she. She’d ordered the strongest drink on the menu in the hope
of getting him drunk, that much was obvious. What she didn’t know
was that he’d had plenty of experience of drinking with soldiers,
with his brothers all being in the imperial army, and he had drunk
them under the table every time. A third of a bottle of Koji was
never going to be enough to make him pass out. He could probably
manage a whole one before that happened.

She shifted but he held
her, forcing her to remain. His soft cock slipped from her warm
folds and he wished he were back inside her. When he’d been in her,
an incredible sensation of completion had filled him. He’d felt so
connected to her. It was probably an illusion brought about by the
alcohol.

He frowned when a strange
feeling rose up inside him.

“
We’re slowing
down,” she said and pulled back, looking out of the window behind
him.

He stared at her a moment,
taking in her beautiful flushed cheeks and bright eyes, and then
looked out the window too.

They were in deep space.
They must have left the Lyra system behind while they’d been making
love.

An alarm sounded, low and
booming, loud enough that Terea covered her ears.

“
What is it?”
she shouted over the noise.

He could see fear in her
eyes when she looked at him for an answer. He lifted her off him,
tucked himself back into his trousers and did his shirt
up.

“
Wait here.” He
touched her cheek to reassure her and went to leave.

She caught his hand.
“Where are you going?”

“
I’m going to
see what’s happening. I won’t be long. Just stay here and don’t let
anyone in.” He smiled at her, hoping it would help calm her nerves.
She shook her head.

“
I’m coming
with you,” she said and went to stand. He placed a hand on her
shoulder, forcing her to sit back down.

“
I’ll be right
back. You’ll be safe here.”

He left before she had a
chance to protest again. The door closed behind him. His head spun
and he pressed a hand to it. Perhaps trying to take command of a
situation with a sex and Koji addled brain wasn’t the brightest of
ideas. He cleared his throat and walked down the corridor. It had
to be done. He needed to know what was happening.

The ship rocked and he
grabbed the wall as he was thrown to one side. He waited for the
vessel to steady and then continued walking down the corridor. At
the end of it, he turned right and went to the window. His heart
accelerated when he saw the Minervan fighter docked with the
ship.

What did the military want
with a transport ship?

He left the window and
headed for the lift. The moment he neared it, the doors slid open
and he ground to a halt.

“
Cruskin!” he
said under his breath and stared at the five men.

They shouldered their
weapons.

He raised his
hands.

This really wasn’t
good.

One of the men stepped
forwards, his sharp teeth glinting in the low light as he grinned.
The other four flanked him with their large black laser rifles
trained on him.

He frowned and gritted his
teeth as the man grabbed his hands and twisted his arms behind his
back. Who had sent them? Lyran military had no right to board a
Minervan vessel. Was that the reason the Minervans had boarded the
ship, or were they acting for their own system?

He closed his eyes and
winced when they locked thick metal cuffs around his forearms,
pinning them behind his back.

“
What’s
happening here!” A female voice echoed down the
corridor.

He looked up.

Terea.

Stupid woman. She’d get
herself killed.

She stormed towards them
and he noticed that she’d dressed but hadn’t put her cloak on. A
glance at the man holding him revealed that she had the Minervan’s
attention.

“
This man is—”
The man started.

“
This man
belongs to me,” she said, cutting him off. Sebastian raised a brow.
He belonged to her? She gave him a little look that made him even
more confused. It looked as though she was asking him to keep quiet
and play along. She was the one who was better off keeping out of
this. He’d told her to stay in the room for a reason. He didn’t
want her getting hurt.

“
We have orders
to detain him in the name of Minerva.”

“
Who’s orders?”
she said and stepped up to the man. She was fearless.

Sebastian tried to look at
her but the man turned him away so all he could see was a wall and
the two guns of the men nearest him. They were very close to his
face.

“
Chief General
Misea’s,” the man said and then added, “and King
Atelier’s.”

Silence.

He tried to move so he
could see what was happening but the soldier nearest him pushed the
rifle in his face in an obvious warning to keep still.

“
I’ll repeat
myself just this once,” Terea said and he heard her move. “This man
belongs to me. No harm will befall him. I will tell your Chief
General in person. Take me to him.”

She was asking a lot. He
frowned at the wall and then the gun, waiting for their reaction to
what she’d said.

“
Certainly, my
lady,” the man said and the soldiers nearest him lowered their
guns.

My lady?

Why was a woman of rank
running away? If she had the power to make these men release him
and go against their orders, then she had to be important. He
risked it and turned to face her and the man. The man bowed his
head to her and then reached around and pressed the button on the
tight metal cuffs that had been restraining Sebastian’s arms. They
clattered to the floor.

“
If you would
accompany us,” the man said to Terea and indicated the
lift.

“
May I have one
moment?” she said and the man nodded. She turned to face
him.

Her fingers brushed his
cheek and he stared at her.

“
I don’t know
what you’ve done wrong,” she whispered with tears in her eyes, “and
I don’t need to know. I think this is goodbye.”

He frowned.
“Goodbye?”

“
If I go with
them, I won’t be coming back. I’ll see to it that they don’t follow
you. Get away from here. I hadn’t realised Minervans wanted you. If
you’d explained that to me...” She placed her palm against his
cheek and the tears in her eyes trembled on the brink of falling.
“All this could have been so different. We could’ve been
free.”

Her hand slipped from his
cheek to rest on his chest for a moment before it fell to her side.
He stared at the space where she’d been when she turned away and
started walking towards the lift and the man.

“
Wait!” he said
and took a step in her direction.

She stopped and turned her
head to the side, but didn’t move to face him
completely.

“
Don’t follow
me,” she said in a pained voice. A tear streaked her soft cheek.
“They’ll kill you if you do... and I don’t want that. I’d rather
live a life knowing you were out there somewhere and we could meet
again, than spend it mourning you.”

He reached a hand out to
her but she walked away. She stepped into the lift and turned to
face him, her head bent and eyes fixed on the floor. As the doors
slid shut, she looked up at him and smiled.

This wasn’t
right.

In Iskara’s name, what was
she thinking, handing herself over to the Minervans and bargaining
for his life. Without him there to protect her, they might harm
her, or worse. Her words rang in his head, a veiled declaration of
feelings that made him warm inside but caused his heart to ache. A
few hours with her had been more wonderful and adventurous than his
entire life. He wanted her back. He couldn’t leave her to
disappear. What if he never saw her again?

He stood in the hall
staring at the wall and not knowing what to do. If he went after
her, he’d be going against her wishes and placing himself in
danger. He knew the Minervans wouldn’t kill him, but they would
ransom him, and they might hurt her in order to make him speak and
tell them the secrets of Lyra. It was impossible for him to choose
between her and his people. He wanted to protect them
both.

But he had to protect her
foremost.

He ran back to the room,
grabbed the knife she’d tossed onto the table, and then back out
again.

He sprinted to the lift
and pressed the button. The doors opened and he scanned the deck
listing on the panel until he found the docking bay. He hit the
button for it and paced the small cylindrical room while it went
down. The doors slid open to reveal the cargo hold of the ship. A
light caught his attention and he frowned when he realised it was
doors closing.

“
Terea,” he
whispered and ran towards it.

Before he could reach it,
the doors had shut completely and then the ship rocked as the
Minervan fighter disengaged. He braced himself against the shaking
and stared at the closed airlock. His heart sank. She was
gone.

He walked slowly to the
door and stared through the small glass window and the window on
the other door in the hull. The Minervan fighter drifted backwards,
turned and then disappeared from view. He leaned forwards and
pressed his forehead against the glass.

His eyes lost focus as he
placed his hands against the cold metal door.

Emptiness filled
him.

He’d never see her
again.

The ship shook again but
this time he didn’t care. It was probably another Minervan ship
come to take him in anyway. How had they found him so quickly? Had
one of the crew recognised him?

“
Your
Highness.”

He frowned and looked to
the side without moving. There were several men stood there, all
wearing the Lyran Imperial Army flight suits. He heaved a sigh and
pushed away from the door when they stepped aside and his brother,
Acer, walked towards him.

“
You gave us
quite the scare, what with that Minervan fighter. Good thing for
you we showed up when we did and they high-tailed it.” Acer smirked
and slapped him on the shoulder. “Sorry, old man, I’ve got orders
to bring you home.”

“
I need to go
after them,” he said, pushing his brother’s hand off him and
frowning. “I never ask you for much, but I need you to do this for
me. You will do this for me as my brother.”