He opened his mouth, but shut it again without saying anything. Instead he closed his eyes and tilted his head back, as if looking to heaven for strength. Ravyn bit her lip to keep from smiling. She knew he had a problem with her keeping something like that to herself. If she really had been hallucinating, he would have wanted to know.
“You and Alex are a lot alike,” Ravyn said, stretching the truth. She knew exactly what effect her words would have. Sure enough, Damon’s eyes snapped open and his head whipped around. His look of outraged disbelief made it impossible not to smirk. She rubbed her thumb over his hand and added, “Except when he looks heavenward, he usually mutters a request for help.”
“I believe it. Next time tell me all the information you have. I’ll decide whether or not to worry.” Damon sounded irritated.
Ravyn arranged her expression so it was appropriately sober and said, “Okay, honey, next time I will.” She added just the right note to her voice to make it sound as if she humored him, but not so much he could call her on it. He clenched his jaw hard enough to make a muscle start jumping. Bulls-eye, she thought, veiling her eyes with her lashes to hide her satisfaction. Served him right for keeping secrets.
He should have been able to feel her playing games with him. Yesterday he would have. But then yesterday, the man hadn’t distanced part of himself from her.
“Do you think the rescue team will be here soon? I hate going to the wall and feeling the killer trying to get into our heads.” Ravyn’s skin crawled at the thought.
Damon shifted, his free hand coming up to cup her face. “You could stay here tomorrow. We can hold the wall even with physical space between us.”
She turned her head, pressing a kiss into his hand. “No. I won’t let you go alone!” She hadn’t meant to sound so savage. “I love you, Damon,” Ravyn added more gently. The words still didn’t flow easily from her lips, but she could say them now without having a panic attack.
He softened in some indefinable way. “I know. I love you too.” He brushed his lips across hers. “Always, Ravyn.”
Damon stared, as if memorizing her face, and Ravyn felt her level of anxiety rise. Her heart started to pound. She had a sense of time running short, of Damon’s presence slipping away.
No!
Nothing was going to happen to him. She wouldn’t let it.
She freed her hand and threw herself against him with enough force to drive him back a step. Damon’s arms went around her to steady both of them, but he looked confused. She pulled his head down and took his mouth. Breaking off the kiss, she looked at him. Satisfied with the stunned heat in his eyes, she pushed him until his legs hit the end of the bench behind him.
“Sweet pea?”
A second shove forced him to sit and then she climbed on him, straddling his hips and grinding against his burgeoning erection. She fisted her hands in his hair, tugging his head back so he met her eyes. “You’re mine, Damon Brody, and I’m not losing you now,” she said fiercely. “You let anything happen to you and I’ll hunt your soul down to the ends of heaven and kick your ass. Are we clear?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said, lips twitching.
Ravyn stopped his laughter by devouring his mouth again. She wasn’t quitting until he realized she meant business.
*** *** ***
Stacey doggedly continued to trail after Alex. They’d split up into teams of two to cover more ground inside the Old City, but hours had gone by with no one finding a trace of Ravyn or Brody. The last sign of their presence had been the booby-trapped gate they’d carefully disarmed to gain entrance.
As the gate had been rearmed, Stacey had watched the transport leave Jarved Nine to return to the ship. Sullivan had made the only choice he could, she knew that. The wind had tossed the vehicle as they’d landed and the storm would only intensify. To protect the ship from damage it had to leave the planet, but it made her uneasy to think of being stuck here.
The original plan had been to land within the Old City, but there had been some kind of force field surrounding the settlement and they hadn’t been able to set down inside the walls. She continued to glance up from time to time, unable to stop herself. There was a storm raging furiously over her head, but not a drop of rain or gust of wind touched her.
Alex stopped and Stacey pulled even with him. The city remained eerily empty. Then he started taking check-ins from the other teams and she realized another hour had passed. Again, no one had found anything. She sighed. “We could search for days and not find any sign of them.”
Alex tucked the stylus into the side of the electronic map and looked at her. “We’ll find them.”
“How? If they’re moving and we’re moving, we could keep missing each other.” Stacey tried not to be discouraged, but the sheer number of buildings and streets made the search daunting.
“Brody knows this is the time frame within which a rescue team would arrive. He won’t move unless he has no other choice. Stace, we’ve been leaving markers.” He opened his hand revealing little yellow blobs. “Brody knows how to read them. He sees them, he’ll find us if we don’t find them first. Trust me.”
“I do.” She knew nothing took precedence over finding his sister. Stacey watched Alex take a last look at the map and then put it away. She waited until he had the pocket fastened before she pointed up and asked, “Don’t you find that odd?”
He glanced up. “You mean that a force field we can’t see is keeping the storm out? Yeah, it’s odd, but I’m glad it’s there. We would have had to stop searching hours ago if it weren’t.”
Stacey’s thoughts left the storm and returned to the search. “I think we should try to raise them again on the radio.”
“We’ve run through all the military frequencies a dozen times. Either his comm unit is broken or Brody managed to leave that somewhere the same way he left his assault rifle.”
Finished with the discussion, he walked away. Stacey had to hurry to keep up with him. He was still ticked off about finding Brody’s rifle propped up in the corner of Ravyn’s room at the facility. She didn’t understand how they could tell it was his. It looked no different to her than the one Alex carried, but Carmichael had identified it as the captain’s gun. She’d been told each man made personal adjustments to his weapon.
It didn’t take Sullivan too long to slow down. Stacey was relieved. She huffed from the pace he’d set and couldn’t have kept up with him much longer. The only sound in the Old City was her breathing and the crunch of her feet on the stones. Even with the clunky, heavy-looking boots Alex wore, he moved silently.
They had another ten minutes till check-in time when Alex stopped short. She’d been looking at the sky again, but he didn’t even sway as she plowed into his back. Puzzled, Stacey moved beside him and followed his gaze.
They’d found Ravyn. And Brody.
Brody sat on a bench beside a fountain and Ravyn sat astride him. Even from this distance, Stacey could see Ravyn had her hands buried in his hair and he had hold of her hips. The kiss they shared was so carnal, it was hard to believe they still had on all their clothes.
Stacey looked at Alex. She knew how he felt about Brody and how overprotective he’d always been with Ravyn. Especially when it came to men. He bared his teeth, his face feral, and snarled faintly. As involved as Ravyn and Brody were, she didn’t think they’d hear it. But the instant Alex’s rumble started, Brody stood, put Ravyn behind him and drew his gun. He scanned the area, his body tensed for battle. When he saw them, he began to lower the weapon. He hesitated before he put it away and she guessed Brody had noticed the look on Alex’s face.
Alex stalked forward, stopping about four meters away from them. For an instant, she stayed put. Then it dawned on her she better catch up and try to prevent a murder.
When she got to Alex, she put her hand on his wrist and dug in her fingers. Her grip had no noticeable effect. Stacey watched Ravyn step from behind Brody’s back. She waited for her friend to run to Alex and throw herself in his arms.
She didn’t. Instead she stood beside the captain and laced her fingers with his. “Hi Alex. Hi Stacey.”
Alex was busy glowering at Brody, so Stacey answered, “Uh, hi.” It seemed surreal after what had happened to hear Ravyn greet them so nonchalantly. Or with seeming nonchalance, she realized belatedly. There had been a warning note in her friend’s voice as she stared at her brother.
Ravyn was sending Alex a message.
From the tenseness of the muscles under her hand, Stacey knew he’d received it and didn’t like it. Not one bit. Ravyn looked determined, Brody looked wary, Alex looked murderous and she searched futilely for a way to lower the tension level.
The break in radio silence as the hourly check-in began relieved Stacey. Alex ignored the radio so she took over. She announced their discovery and told them to stand by for coordinates. When Alex didn’t supply them, she looked to the captain. For a moment, she didn’t think he would answer either, but then he rattled off a set of numbers. She relayed them to the waiting rescue teams.
“That’s not where we are,” Alex said, his voice sounding about as warm as the ice age.
“That’s where we’ve been staying. There’s enough room there to put up everyone until the storm blows over,” Brody answered. He didn’t sound conciliatory, but he did keep his tone neutral. It was better than nothing, she decided.
Nobody moved.
Stacey stopped herself from blowing out a breath of frustration. Alex’s behavior bordered on idiotic, but at least he had enough sense not to try to order Ravyn to him. She knew her friend wouldn’t budge from the captain’s side. If Alex issued that edict and Ravyn ignored him, the tension would only escalate further. And it was explosive now.
“Sullivan,” Stacey hissed under her breath, “play nice.”
He ignored her, but her words did have some effect. Ravyn and Brody shared a glance and evidently reached a decision. That they could communicate with a look underlined how close they’d become. It had to nettle Alex, but he didn’t visibly react.
“You should see the house we’ve been staying in,” Ravyn said with what had to be forced perkiness. “It’s incredible.” She and Brody began walking, still holding hands. They were so in sync, it was as if their every move was choreographed.
Stacey allowed herself a moment of envy, then gave Alex a light push. He turned his glare on her, but at least he moved. At the rate they were going, everyone else would arrive at the destination before they did. She knew the showdown between Brody and Alex had merely been postponed, but maybe by the time it became inevitable, Alex would be more reasonable.
Or maybe not, she thought, watching him bare his teeth again as Ravyn leaned up to whisper in the captain’s ear. Stacey sighed. Things could only get better, right?
*** *** ***
Damon kept his eyes on the colonel. He knew better than to turn his back on a dangerous predator. Ravyn hovered nearby, prepared to put herself in front of him if she felt it necessary. Good thing he had a healthy ego, he decided, his lips quirking. Part of what kept him on edge, though, was her worry.
The colonel didn’t seem to care that the rest of the rescue team found the situation humorous. No one said anything, however, and the silence seemed to grow more and more strained. Even his sweet pea remained quiet. His smile grew. Ravyn caught his amusement and turned to him, a question in her eyes. He broadcast his love for her and felt it returned. The communion ended when the last duo arrived. He nodded at Carmichael; they’d worked together before, but he didn’t recognize the woman with him.
“Doctor Gwen!” Ravyn crossed the room and hugged the other woman.
“Ravyn,” Colonel Sullivan barked, “you go with Dr. Mitchell and let her check you out. Brody, I want a report.”
“Damon should go first,” Ravyn argued. “He was hurt worse than I was.”
“You were hurt?” The colonel’s voice sounded deadly. The glare Damon received looked even more lethal.
“Hardly at all,” Ravyn lied easily.
Sullivan stared at her a moment. “Take the doctor to a room where she can check you out. Brody, you come with me.”
Ravyn glanced at him and he nodded, telling her to follow orders. Sullivan looked surprised for an instant before a fierce scowl distorted his face. Damon knew his sweet pea wanted to be sure he’d be fine left with her brother, but the colonel did not like her seeking another man’s okay before obeying his orders.
No one moved until Ravyn and the doctor had left the room. “Brody, now,” the colonel thundered and Damon followed. The redhead trailed after him. Sullivan stopped. “Johnson, stay here. I want you to contact the ship. Bring them up the date.”
“If I go with you, I’ll have more information to report,” she said. Despite the bravado, Damon sensed her anxiety.
“I’ll summarize for you later. Stay.”
For a moment, Damon thought the woman was going to pick up the small green obelisk sitting on the table to her left and chuck it at the colonel’s head. Fire shot out of her eyes, but she pivoted and stalked off. He was glad she wasn’t mad at him.
It wasn’t until Colonel Sullivan stood pointedly in the doorway of the small room off the great chamber, that Damon moved again. He wasn’t looking forward to this confrontation.
The door closed with an ominous click and he stood rigidly at attention. He had a brief glimpse at the raw fury in the colonel’s eyes before a shutter came down. Damon was grateful for his superior’s iron control. The older man’s hands knotted into fists. Then he moved away, putting the desk between them.
“I don’t like you using my sister,” Sullivan drawled softly.
“I’m not using her,” Damon denied between gritted teeth. “Sir,” he tacked on belatedly.
“You took advantage of her.”
“No, sir.”
“You can’t deny you’re sleeping with her.”
Damon was surprised the colonel’s voice didn’t cause icicles to form in the corners of the room. “With all due respect, Colonel, it’s none of your business.”
Sullivan’s knuckles went white. Damon braced himself, but the colonel regained control.
“The hell it isn’t. She’s my sister.”