Sons of Lyra: Fight For Love (3 page)

Ambra hit Jericho in the
chest and glared.

Remi ignored him and the
rest of his squadron as they joined in. His thoughts drifted to the
nurse in question. Jericho was right in a way. He had to see
her.

Everyone fell silent when
the captains returned to their squadrons. Remi listened
half-heartedly to the orders they were being given, his mind still
on Emmanuelle. He couldn’t leave for Varka Two without letting her
know his feelings and discovering her own.

“
You have
thirty minutes to prepare for launch,” his captain said and he
looked up at him.

Thirty minutes.

He had to see
her.

He pushed through the
crowd, not answering Jericho’s shouted questions as he focused on
getting to her. He only had thirty minutes before he had to board
the ship that would take him away from her to Varka Two. His
shoulder was the perfect excuse to see her again.

He made his way up through
the decks to her office. Its location was fixed in his mind now. He
could find it blindfolded. Reaching the door, he knocked and it
slid open.

“
Lieutenant
Lyra IV, I thought you’d be en route to Varka Two by now.” There
was a hint of nerves in her voice when she mentioned the name of
the planet. She knew his file and knew that Varka Two was where
he’d lost his arm. Her concern touched him and gave him the courage
to continue.

“
I left in a
hurry earlier and didn’t let you finish your work on my shoulder. I
thought it best to get it checked out completely before I go into
battle.”

He sat on her inspection
table, nerves turning his stomach. She put down the computer pad
she had been reading and walked over to him. Her thigh brushed his
knee as she stopped close to him.

“
You’ll have to
take your shirt off.” There was a hint of seduction to her voice, a
low sensuality that made him warm inside. Her fingers brushed his
neck by his collar and worked downwards towards the buttons of his
shirt. Clearly she wasn’t expecting him to undress himself this
time.

His heart accelerated when
she leaned towards him, her hands grazing his arms as she pulled
his shirt down them. Her shoulder pressed against his chest and he
tilted his head towards her, closing his eyes as he breathed in her
soft perfume.

“
Call me Remi,”
he whispered into her ear. She tensed and paused at her work. When
she straightened up slightly, her mouth was close to his. He could
feel her breath against his face, unsteady and trembling. She
stayed there a moment before moving away.

He watched her fiddling
with the instruments on the tray. He was making her nervous. Did
that mean she liked him too? He should’ve asked his brother how to
read women. He’d never been any good at it.

Emmanuelle teetered on the
brink of calling him Remi as he’d asked her to. It wasn’t her place
though. She couldn’t break the rules. The army was her home now. If
they discharged her she had nowhere to go. It wasn’t only that. She
didn’t want to leave this place. She didn’t want to leave
Remi.

He preened his black hair
back, long fingers pushing the wavy tendrils of it from his face.
It was longer on top than she remembered, but still short at the
back.

Picking up the scanner,
she walked around him, consciously brushing his knee with her hip
as she passed. He breathed in sharply and his eyes followed her,
burning her body with their heat and hunger. She brought her hand
up and stroked it over his shoulder as she came to stand behind
him. He kept his head turned to the side but closed his eyes. How
much time did they have? How long would it be before he was gone?
Fear whispered to her heart. She didn’t know if he’d come back this
time. Had he learnt enough over these past two years to keep
himself alive on that hellish planet?

Tears filled her eyes but
she suppressed them, focusing on her work. She ran the scanner over
his shoulder. The skin around the graze was bruising now, darkening
and becoming mottled. The scan revealed no fractures or anything
out of the ordinary. He’d probably jarred it or it was merely stiff
from the bruising.

She didn’t dare move into
clear view of him while there were tears in her eyes. It would only
worry him and make her look weak. She’d been through so much in her
life. Now wasn’t the time to cry. If he left here worrying about
her, it would impact on his focus while he was down on the planet.
She knew that he thought about her, that he had feelings for her.
She’d realised it shortly after meeting him. The fact that he found
reasons to see her at least three or four times a week had made it
obvious.

Reaching around him, she
picked up the skin healing device and ran the red beam over his
flesh. The bruising disappeared. Now all she had to do was give him
a dose of painkillers and he’d be on his way. Her twin hearts beat
in opposition of that thought and the idea of him going into
battle. She’d seen the fallout of war and the casualties it left in
its wake. She didn’t want that to happen to Remi.

“
All done,” she
whispered and placed her hand against his back. He tensed and then
relaxed again. His body was warm beneath her fingers and she traced
them downwards, following the line of his right shoulder blade. He
had a strong back and an amazing body that put all others she’d
seen to shame. It was no wonder the sons of Lyra had a reputation.
Now two of them were married, leaving only Remi and his older
brother Acer to be caught. She’d seen the looks the female soldiers
gave Remi. All of them wanted him. They wanted to catch
him.

A jealous snake hissed in
her ear that they couldn’t have him. He was hers. It was her who he
came to every time he was hurt. It was her who healed him and
helped him through his dark times.

She moved around him,
keeping close so her hip brushed his knees again. His hands flexed
against the edge of the inspection table, fingers indenting the
black leather.

“
Not leaving?”
she said as she placed the healing device back onto the tray along
with the scanner. She looked up when he didn’t answer, straight
into dark passionate eyes. Her mouth turned dry and the twin beat
of her hearts threatened to make her dizzy. His gaze fell to her
lips. Hers dropped to his body. Bad move. Every muscle of it was
tensed as he gripped the table. It was a divine sight worthy of the
gods’ notice and it made her hum with desire inside.

“
Emmanuelle,”
he whispered, husky and low and full of desire.

She tried to swallow. Her
throat was too dry and sticky.

His left hand
rose.

Her eyes closed and she
kept her head lowered as his fingers caressed her cheek. It
surprised her on two fronts. One, that he had finally discovered
the courage to touch her and two, that he was using his cybernetic
arm to do so. His hand opened, palm cupping her cheek. The feel of
his thumb sweeping across her lower lip was too much. Desire jolted
through her, sparking along every nerve. She lowered her head
further, feeling the change in her and unable to stop her long
silver hair from floating upwards in response to the strong
emotions surging through her.

“
What the...”
His hand raised her head up. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried
to get control of herself again. She couldn’t. The feelings were
too strong. Her hair danced in the air, her hearts revelling in his
touch. “I’ve always meant to ask you where you’re from. I guess I
have to now.”

She opened one eye and
then the other and looked at him. The blush blazed across her
cheeks when she saw the fascination in his eyes. Gathering her
hair, she tried to smooth it down but it refused to stay put. She
always responded strongly to her feelings and her hair always
insisted on showing it. It was just something that happened to all
her species.

“
Dazkara,” she
said, voice trembling with nerves, and smiled with relief when she
finally managed to make her hair behave. “It... I...”

He smiled and caught her
cheek again. Her hair rebelled against her command to stay
put.

“
Don’t be
ashamed. It’s amazing. You’re amazing. I’d thought you were an
angel of Iskara.”

She laughed and then
pretended to clear her throat when he looked offended and
frowned.

“
Angel?
Dazkarans are bloodthirsty and destructive. Our home planet is an
arid desert because our forefathers annihilated every living
creature and plant. I’m no angel,” she whispered the last
part.

He caught her other cheek,
his hands cool against her burning flesh. She couldn’t tear her
eyes away from his. There was such sincerity in them.

“
You are an
angel, Emmanuelle. No doubt about it. I’ve never met anyone as kind
and beautiful as you.”

Her hair rose a little
higher in response to that, her twin hearts fluttering against her
chest. She blinked rapidly and wondered what he expected her to say
in response. There was nothing she could say. There was only one
way to repay him for such sweet words.

She stepped towards him,
intent on kissing him, and lost her nerve the moment her hips
nudged his knees apart. He continued for her, luring her towards
him with his hands and shifting forwards on the table at the same
time. Her breath trembled along with the rest of her body when his
lips neared hers.

An alarm
sounded.

The soldiers had fifteen
minutes before they had to report in.

She drew back and stared
at Remi, suddenly aware of what they’d been about to do and unsure
whether she could go through with it. She’d put his mind at ease.
He wouldn’t worry about her while he was fighting now and he was
healed. There was nothing left for her to do. Perhaps when he came
back, she would let him see her true feelings. She wasn’t brave
enough right now.

“
You should
go,” she said and went to turn away.

“
You’re not
getting away that easily,” he said and grabbed her wrist, dragging
her back to him. Her thigh knocked against the table between his
legs. Before she could form a protest, his mouth descended on hers,
claiming her lips in a fiery kiss that stole her ability to
speak.

She leaned into the kiss,
her hands coming up to press against his bare chest as she closed
her eyes. It was incredible. She tiptoed, wanting to get closer to
him. His arms went around her waist and settled on her backside,
lifting her a little off the floor. Her hair swirled around them,
tickling her face. She definitely couldn’t control it now. The
desire rising inside her and the intense need that chased it placed
everything beyond her control. She surrendered to Remi’s demanding
kiss and melted into his embrace, letting him take over.

Fifteen minutes and then
he’d leave her. Fifteen minutes and he’d be going into battle on a
planet that had almost claimed his life. These fifteen minutes had
to count. She had to know his feelings for her and show him her
own. This could be the last time she saw him.

She pushed away her morbid
thoughts and focused on the rough glide of his lips over hers.
Their tongues met and she fought for dominance over his, playing
with it and driving him on.

Remi pushed her back and
breathed hard. She was incredible. She matched him strength for
strength, passion for passion. He ran his fingers through her hair,
still amazed at the fact it reacted to her feelings. There was so
much about her that he didn’t know, but he wanted to find out. He
longed for more time with her and swore that he would do his best
on Varka Two so he could return to her.

In one swift move, his
feet hit the floor and he lifted her onto the inspection table. Her
eyes went wide with shock, as though she was surprised to find
herself suddenly on the padded leather bench. He grabbed her
backside and dragged her towards the edge of the table, settling
himself between her legs. Her hands rested on his shoulders,
fingers gently grazing his skin, sending his temperature
soaring.

He pulled her against him
again and kissed her, hard and with all the passion burning inside
him. Only fifteen minutes. It wasn’t enough time. He wanted to make
love to her, to spend the rest of his life showing her just how
special she was and how beautiful.

His hand slid up to her
waist and hers dropped to his upper arms, thumbs caressing the
curve of his biceps. For a moment, he’d thought she was going to
stop him. Taking her compliance and touch as an invitation, he
raised his hands a little more, until they moulded around the firm
globes of her breasts. She moaned into his mouth, her kiss turning
fierce and hungry. It was a battle to remain in control, to fight
her for dominance. It seemed the fifteen minute deadline had filled
her with the same urgency that he felt.

He squeezed her breasts,
groaning internally at the feel of them and the fact he was finally
touching her, and then moved to the buttons of her dress. Breaking
the kiss, he drew back and watched his hands as he started to
unbutton the dark blue dress. She leaned back, reached to the side
towards the control panel and pressed a button. The door lock
clicked into place. When he looked at her, she gave him a shy smile
and blushed. That was a definite invite.