03 Solar Flare - Spark Series (11 page)

Azure had come to dance.

He hadn’t come to dance. Azor glanced at the
stage curtain in frustration as he changed backstage.
Unfortunately, he’d been cornered by the manager when he showed up,
told he would dance, because his admirer was a generous tipper.
He’d been tempted to blow the manager off, but he couldn’t get away
with that, not if he wanted to return to the cover. It had been a
lucrative one, generating many arrests. He didn’t want to risk
blowing it.

As a result, he was getting dressed,
preparing to strip it all off in front of the woman he’d come to
dissuade from chasing him. Oh, and he had Blue grousing away in his
ear.

“I can’t believe I have to sit here in the
dark and watch you bare your green Kiuyian butt when I could be
home with my wife,” he muttered. He was safely stashed in a
transport across the alley, but he had tapped into the security
system to help watch for trouble.

“Shut up,” Azor said with uncharacteristic
frustration. It didn’t help that he knew the whole situation was
his own fault. “And stay out of my head while I’m up there.” The
communication device in his ear was tiny, undetectable to the naked
eye. At the moment he didn’t appreciate its crystal clear
reception.

“I’ll go one better and keep my eyes on the
crowd,” Blue shot back. “I don’t want to be blinded for life.”

Azor grunted and stepped out from behind the
dressing screen and up to the curtain. He felt a pang of
nervousness—after all, this was Brandy— then pushed it from his
head. If she was watching, she was just another woman tonight, just
part of the crowd. While he was dancing, she wouldn’t exist. He
stepped onto the stage, into the light.

Brandy drew in a quick breath as he stepped
out. Azure was deeply tanned, with hair so light a shade of gray it
was almost white. His face was young enough to match his claims
about his age, but the expression on his face, the way he carried
himself, spoke of experience. This was not a man young at heart.
Wild, maybe, but not young.

Her jaw clenched as he began to move. She
wanted to leave. She could not make herself go.

His moves were smooth, undeniably masculine.
Altogether tempting. She could not take her eyes away as he undid
his shirt, each button sliding free with a brash flick. He stripped
it off and tossed it behind him, revealing slick, sharply
delineated muscles that made her mouth go dry. She covered her
face, hiding her eyes as his hands reached for his belt, years of
strict upbringing making her blush furiously. Except for a single,
censored picture when she’d been a teenager, she’d never seen a
naked man. Even her encounters with M’acht had been in the dark,
for they’d both been shy.

There was nothing shy about Azure’s display.
She heard a cheer and looked up, right as his pants were tossed
backstage. There was very little to the briefs he had underneath.
She met his eyes, saw that he knew exactly where she sat. Slowly,
he smiled, and it was fierce, almost a warning.

The music ended with a flourish, and he
performed a sketchy bow. With one last, burning glance at her, he
turned and walked behind the curtain.

She felt an edge of panic as he strode back
stage. She figured he’d come looking for her, and she was no longer
sure she wanted to be found. She felt confused, frighteningly
aroused, and that’s not what she’d come for…was it?

The crowd had grown thick, and it was slow
going, trying to get out. All the bodies were moving in the
opposite direction. She was almost to the side door when she felt
his hand close over her arm. She froze.

“Going somewhere?” he murmured.

For one moment, she could have sworn it was
Azor speaking. Her heart gave a strange little jump of sheer
horror. She glanced at him, but no, it was definitely Azure who’d
stopped her. She could feel his heat like a prickling swell all
along the side of her body. “I’m…going home.”

He smiled even as he guided her in a
different direction, to a side door. “I thought you came to see the
show. You paid a lot to see me dance.” He ignored the admiring
glances sent his way, and the flirtation. His attention was all for
her. He seemed almost angry.

Her head came up and she spoke sharply.
“That’s not why I came.” She let him tug her though a side door and
looked around. They were in a service hallway, next to the
kitchens. She could smell the food cooking. “I wanted to meet you,
yes, and I came early enough that I thought it could happen before
you had to work. The music started while I was eating. I thought I
had more time.”

He raised a skeptical brow. “The food was
that good? I’ve never had anyone say they were more interested in
the noodles than me.”

She felt awkward, but raised her head. “I
have a talent for insulting people. It’s unintentional this time,
though. I did want to see you.”

He leaned against the wall and crossed his
arms. He was dressed casually now in canvas pants and a
short-sleeved shirt, sturdy boots. He could have passed for a
laborer, or the student he claimed to be. “Here I am.”

Yes, he was, and after all that effort on her
part, she’d be a fool to waste the chance. She felt an ironic smile
tug up her mouth. She’d almost run from him. “Were you going to
call again?”

He thought about it seriously. “No. I had no
business doing it the first time.”

She drew a breath. “I turned out to be less
interesting than you thought, then.”

He didn’t say anything; let her draw her own
conclusions.

His rejection stung, but it wasn’t the end of
her world. She was leaving. She could afford to take a risk.

She nodded at the waitress who passed her,
then to him. “I’m sorry for that, then. You were. Interesting, I
mean. Why ever you called in the first place, I thank you. I think
you’re a man who will do something with his life, Azure. I wish you
well.” She couldn’t smile, but she let her face show her honesty.
Even as she turned to go, she told herself he had done her good.
He’d pulled her out of herself, and that had helped more than he
knew. He’d been catalyst for change, though he wouldn’t be the
opportunity she’d hoped for. It was sad, but she’d live.

She didn’t get three steps before she was
spun around and pushed up against the wall. Azure was there, his
heat the only stimulus in the dim, plain hall.

He didn’t ask to kiss her, just took her
mouth in a searing, gentle kiss. It shook her bones, stopped her
heart. M’acht had not kissed like this.

Thunder rumbled in her ears, made her heart
knock like an engine gone bad. He was burning her from the outside
in, and she curled into his heat, determined to warm her bones. She
burned. Any moment she’d go up in flames.

His hand settled on her waist, dipped down to
squeeze the leg she’d raised to curl around his thigh. He gently
lowered it, breaking the kiss. He stared into her glazed eyes, his
breathing ragged, too. “I hear something.”

At first all she heard was blood thrumming in
her ears. Then there were screams, shouts.

His mouth tightened. “Police raid.” He looked
at her wide eyes and glanced around, pulled her to a door. He
opened it, revealing a utility closet. “There’s only room for one
of us,” he said as he stuck her inside. “Good luck.”

Good luck? She thought as she stared at the
door. The absurdity of the situation struck her. She couldn’t stay
in a closet. It was the first place they would look. She had to get
out.

She opened the door, glanced left, then
right…directly into the frowning gaze of Officer Azor Bn’Ji.

When she tried to recall the events later
that night, she found she was a little shaky on what happened next.
Shock, probably, though she didn’t realize it at the time.

Azor stopped and just stared for a moment,
then slowly shook his head. He walked to her with an air of
resignation. “There’s only one redhead I know who’d go to a strip
club wearing a racing jacket and practical brown shoes.”

She drew a breath. She knew she’d looked out
of place among women dressed to dazzle, but she hadn’t come here to
party. She’d come as herself, and it hadn’t been enough.

“Follow me.” He touched her arm lightly and
gestured for her to precede him down the hall.

The crowd was almost contained when he
escorted her out into the main room. He silently walked her out
past the swarming police, nodding to an officer once or twice.
Before she knew it she was on the street, surrounded by police
transports with flashing lights. She cringed as they walked toward
the large vehicle they had ready for prisoners, then looked at him
in surprise when he walked behind it, past it, then took her up to
a transport waiting in an ally. He opened the door.

Blue leaned over and glowered at her. “Get
in.”

Surprised, she glanced between the two of
them, but obeyed. It seemed they had planned to fetch her all
along.

Azor didn’t wave as they pulled away from the
curb, leaving him behind. He headed back toward the chaos. Oddly,
she noticed then that he was out of uniform. Had Blue not given him
enough time to suit up before sending him in after her?

The silence on Blue’s side of the transport
was thick. He held his peace for about two blocks before saying
grimly, “Gem will never know about this.”

She drew a deep breath. There wasn’t an easy
way to placate him, so she asked, “How did you know where to find
me?”

He waited for a traffic signal to turn blue
and then told her, “You have a talent. I asked myself where the
worst possible place I could find you was, and then I called Azor.
I’m going to owe him for this,” he said with acid calm.

“You could name a twin after him,” she
muttered out of habit, but reconsidered as she felt the lash of his
stare. “Sorry. Why were you looking for me?”

He was silent as he stared out the
windshield. “After what you told me this afternoon, I was concerned
when you weren’t at home. You don’t go out at night unless it’s on
business. You’re a creature of habit.”

She exhaled forcefully and drew off the mask.
She stuffed it in her pocket. It wouldn’t do for Gem to find in on
the floor of her husband’s transport. It could make for some
awkward questions.

There wasn’t much she could say to Blue. He
wasn’t her father. Custom made him and Gem the head of the family,
but she was her own woman. Ruin had stared in her face tonight,
though, and he’d saved her hide. She owed him for that. “He wasn’t
much of a gentleman,” she said, offering what she could. She
assumed Blue would know whom she meant. “He stashed me in a closet
and ran off to save his own hide.”

Blue didn’t say anything, but he seemed
vaguely uncomfortable.

“Don’t worry, nothing important happened. I
think I got the rebellion out of my system.”

“That’s good,” he said cautiously. He seemed
to wage an inner debate. “I’m sure he had reasons for running
off.”

“Yeah, the threat of arrest can do that to
you,” she said dryly. “Forget it. Are we still leaving on
schedule?”

“We might even move it up,” he muttered. When
she glanced at him, he said louder, “Yeah. Sounds like you’re ready
to go.”

“Yeah.” She sighed as she looked out the
window. There was no reason to stay.

“We’d better wait to tell her you’re Azure,”
Blue said soberly. “I’m not interested in trussing her up and
dragging her aboard your ship.”

Azor grunted as he held the com with one hand
and filled out a report with the other. He couldn’t show up for a
police raid and expect to escape paperwork, though how he’d missed
the fact that there would be a raid, he didn’t know. Between
preparing for vacation and his chat with Blue, it must have slipped
by him. At least he’d gotten out of processing the prisoners.

“On the bright side, it’s safe to say she no
longer holds a candle for Azure,” Blue said almost maliciously.
“After he dumped her in a closet to save his own sorry hide, she
thinks rather less of him.”

Azor lost his patience. He’d had a long day
and he didn’t need Blue taking his frustrations out on him. “Look,
we’ll have a long enough trip that we can hash this out later. I’ll
see you at the spaceport when it’s time to launch.” He hung up.

He didn’t forget the subject, though. He’d
had two choices when Blue had warned him about the raid. He could
stay and comfort her as Azure, go through the mockery of an arrest
and possibly testify at her trial, or he could save her as himself.
It hadn’t been a hard choice, but it was one he’d pay for. She was
going to hate him when she found out who he was, and he would tell
her. There was no point in keeping it a secret, not when his
actions had helped cause the mess. Besides, he’d promised Blue.

It had been difficult to let her go. His
blood had been afire, his head high with the feel of her. He'd
wanted nothing more than to squeeze into the closet with her and
show her just how gratifying a tight fit could be. Another five
minutes....

He sighed. He owed her, but she might not
appreciate the way he’d chosen to repay the debt. He was going to
take her all the way to her sister, and it promised to be a long
voyage. He just hoped they’d both arrive intact.

Dr. Vhanee glared at Vio Srie’s infuriatingly
calm face. The man was obstinate, and he regretted ever dealing
with him. “I asked you weeks ago to stop selling the drug. You
didn’t abide by your side of the deal. Worse, I believe you’ve
hired someone to synthesize it. The supply I gave you should have
long since run out.”

Unruffled, Vio reclined in his office chair
and examined the ring on his index finger. “Your drugs were
distributed, doctor. You will pay what you owe.”

“I owe nothing!”

Vio smiled. “Ah, but you are not paying for
the same thing. Today you are paying for silence…and for the chance
for your “patients” to live.” His eyes flicked lazily up as he
studied Dr. Vhanee’s reaction. “If you do not, you will witness
your life’s work, all your precious experiments, slowly disappear.
You wouldn’t want that.”