CHAPTER 16
“Well, that was a bust,” said Xaviara. They were back in the library, going over the clues they’d assembled. She’d been tempted to suggest going back to her bunk, but at Nicholen’s direction, this was where they’d ended up. And a good thing, too, since she wanted to put her hands all over this man. The library afforded them a little privacy—but not too much.
“Yes,” agreed Nicholen, “I would have preferred not to see Anthony’s bare ass.”
She laughed. That’s where Piotr had stopped the video right before they’d arrived. “Yeah, I could have done without that, too.”
Nicholen’s violet eyes were luminous in the lower light of the library. Perhaps this room was a bit more private than they needed right now. She ached to press her lips to his again. From the way he kept looking at her lips, he was thinking the same thing. The sexy look from before came over his face. Hooded eyes, slight smirk.
He moved closer, leaning forward in the chair. He’s going to kiss me, and I’m going to let him, and time is going to slip away. Xaviara had to say something to halt all of this at once, so they could finish the task at hand. Manda’s life was on the line.
“You know this is never going to work.” Oh, shit, too harsh, too harsh!
Nicholen drew back. “What?”
“You and me. You’re a Captain of the Royal Guard. I’m just an aide.” As she said it, she realized it was true. What could he possibly want with her? “And we live light-years apart.”
“I thought we’d figure it out when the mission was over.”
“Yes, we can try, but honestly, how?” What was she doing? She liked this man, as infuriating as he was. And, promised payback aside, she was more attracted to him than anyone in a long time. But she had to stop this back and forth. She needed to know if he, too, was serious. They could sleep together—she was fine with that—but she wanted to know if it was going to be something more.
“There’s the spaceway,” he said. As part of this accord, the Imdali and Sol governments were negotiating setting up high-speed relay points between their two systems. The two-day journey they were on would be cut down to about eight hours.
“That’s still months away, and only if the treaty is successful,” she pressed.
“In the meantime, there are holocalls and mail.”
He seemed to be serious. “True, but what—”
“Wait,” he said. “Mail.”
“Long distance stuff is tough.”
He held up a hand. “It is, but that’s not what I mean. We need to come back to this conversation, little viaar.”
His use of the nickname melted her again. It was so… so… sexy.
“Let’s pull up that mail from your date with Boring Tom,” he said. “I want to look at it. I think I just figured out who our saboteur is.”
* * *
The mail was the key. Nicholen was sure of it.
^[email protected]@L^ Preparations ^[email protected]@L^ complete. ^[email protected]@L^
^[email protected]@L^ Operation Mallard ^[email protected]@L^ Duck confirmed. ^[email protected]@L^
^[email protected]@L^ Delegation arrives ^[email protected]@L^ tomorrow 22:00. ^[email protected]@L^
^[email protected]@L^ Attach previously provided packages to lead ship per attached ^[email protected]@L^ schematics, and be prepared to receive further instructions. ^[email protected]@L^
^[email protected]@L^ First payment initiated ^[email protected]@L^ to account on file. ^[email protected]@L^
As the mail splashed across Xaviara’s tablet, he nodded.
“I think I know who it is, too. Let’s check one more thing,” she said and logged into the ship’s computer. “Too much has been happening too fast.”
He wasn’t sure if she was referring to the situation on the ship or their relationship. Maybe it was both. Forebears, but he ached for this woman. Her lithe fingers keyed their way to the commdump and scrolled back to the recent archives.
Clever. They’d been so busy, they hadn’t yet checked the one thing that confirmed their suspicions.
“I usually have to check the reference manual when I’m looking through this thing,” said Xaviara, “but I think this is what we’re looking for, yes?” She turned the tablet to Nicholen.
His eyes jumped down the page. At the time when the sabotage was taking place, Breniel was actively running diagnostics on the engine. The saboteur may have covered their tracks by knocking out the ship-wide security feed when implementing the sabotage, but he or she didn’t think to cloud the other suspects’ activities.
“Breniel didn’t do it,” Xaviara and Nicholen said in unison.
“That leaves Viktor and Lianndra,” he said. “I’m certain Gloria didn’t do it, either.”
“The key is in what we thought was garbage.” Her eyes flickered across the tablet, taking in the mail again. “That’s not actually garbage; it’s a security encryption. For some reason, his mail software didn’t filter it into the form of a signature. It appeared as gobbledegook.”
“Yes,” breathed Nicholen.
Xaviara raised her eyes to his, and sparks flew between them. Her gaze was intense, the same as it had been when she was going down on him. Fuck, but he wanted to make her look like that again… and again… and again…
After this was all over, he would.
“VL,” she said. “Those are Viktor Lukin’s initials.”
He nodded. “But…”
“But they’re also Lianndra Verrytto’s backward. Except it’s not backward. Your people go by surname first and given name second. VL. Verrytto Lianndra.”
Her brilliant mind had arrived at the same spot that his had nearly in record time. She was his match, in mind and body both. However this thing played out, he had to make this work with her. Rules be damned, they would be together, no matter what.
“And,” she continued, the same intense expression making it very difficult for him to concentrate on her words, “the middle letters are GK. Geshhina Kadyyza, or ‘Kadyyza Forever.’”
The translator let him hear her sexy accent glide over the words in his native language. The literal translation was indeed “Kadyyza Forever,” but it meant so much more. The Geshhina Kadyyza were a terrorist organization, the ones the royal family suspected were behind the eldest brother Willex’s death.
They used the letters as a call to action. Kadyyza Forever—but also standing above all others, with no foes nor friends as equals. They were a supremacist group, one who opposed any and all alliances with outside species.
“I’ve heard of them,” she whispered. “They’re awful. Assassinations. Spaceship sabotage. You were right about Lianndra.”
“This is one thing I don’t like being vindicated in,” he answered.
This time, the metallic scent coming from Xaviara had a tinge of sweetness to it. She was hurt again, but not at him. She was, instead, hurt on his behalf.
“Oh, Nicholen,” she said softly. “I’m sorry.”
Normally, he would have stiffened his spine, stepped back, and unleashed a biting remark. But this time, her tender sadness for him was…
Nice.
“Thank you.”
The tablet dropped to her side, and she stepped forward to kiss him. Her lips were as soft as the floral scent of arousal wafting like a heady ambrosia from her skin. He hesitated a moment and then plunged in full force to the kiss.
* * *
Xaviara met his lust in kind, pressing back against his roving tongue. He slid his hands down her back, then gripped her ass. As her nipples blossomed under the restraining uniform, she felt his manhood surge again. Grabbing her by the hips, Nicholen sat down abruptly in one of the library chairs and pulled her into his lap. Fully clothed, he squeezed her against himself, and she reveled in the feel of his member rubbing against the cleft between her legs.
She wanted more. She wanted so much more.
“We’re in the library,” she gasped. “Maybe we should—”
He captured her earlobe in his mouth and reached out a hand to slap the lock mechanism on the door.
“Authorization code required,” said the computer.
She squirmed as he let his teeth scrape over her earlobe. “Do you want me to stop?” His hands paused on her backside.
“No,” she gasped. “Don’t stop.”
“Door lock authorized by Trincaar Valkkh Nicholen.”
The door lock mechanism purred.
He buried his face in her breasts, pulling first one free and then the other. His tongue found her left nipple, and she suppressed a cry of pleasure. He tongued her, swirling first clockwise, then counterclockwise. “Fuck, you’re beautiful.” He pulled back to admire the glistening tip before sucking her right bud into her mouth.
Shocks of pleasure shot through Xaviara’s belly to bury deep inside her.
One of his hands roved over her torso to the front. Nicholen clamped her against his hips, thrusting with his fully clothed member against her pleasure center. How did he find it? And then she realized, His psy-sense.
Her body flamed with the realization. What must it be like for him?
His thumb worked its way into her standard-issue dress pants. She worked them free to hang off one leg, and he lifted her to adjust his rock-hard member over her panty-clad entrance. She gasped as she slammed against him, and he ground himself into her. His thumb found her nub and made a lazy circle that sent liquid hot desire surging through her body.
Finding a rhythm, she rode his fully clothed shaft. Slickness coated the inside of her panties, and she moaned against his chest. As if that were a cue, he captured her mouth with his. His left hand was everywhere—her buttocks, her back, her thigh—and his right hand was strumming a rhythm on her love button that was sending her sky high.
“Oh, God, Nicholen,” she moaned against his mouth.
He pulled away to purr in her ear. “Yes, my little viaar, come for me.”
She sucked in a breath, relaxing as his thumb worked its magic and his cock lifted her higher into the realms of ecstasy. With a cry, she complied, gripping his shoulders and clamping her thighs around his. Wave after wave flowed over her, and the room went hazy. His thumb stilled, pressing against her.
Finally, she relaxed and stilled and slumped against his body.
His member throbbed beneath her.
Pulling back, she said, “Let me—”
He interrupted. “That was part one of your payback.”
She grinned, feeling a little giddy and silly and definitely satisfied—for the moment. His answering grin made her stomach flop in a delicious way.
He held her against him, even when she tried to pull away. Giggling, she kissed him again. Finally, he said, “We should go.”
All the unsaid words hung in the air between them, but for now, Xaviara was content to let them go. “You’re right.”
Reluctantly, she attempted to stand once more and he released her. When she wobbled, he caught her hand in his. “Need help?”
“I’m good.”
Grinning, she straightened her uniform and swung a leg over the chair to stand next to him. She tugged at her rumpled pants, pulling them back over her leg.
“I’ll just need a minute,” he said, erection still apparent.
“Do you need me to turn around?” she teased.
“Your fine ass isn’t going to help matters.”
“Well, hurry up, we’ve got a job to do.”
When he winked, she had to grip the chair to keep from going weak in the knees.