Caught in Amber (25 page)

Sasha breathed slow and deep in an effort to keep still. Nathan’s hand slipped into hers. He gave her fingers a reassuring squeeze. The angle of her head made it impossible to see what Mickelson was doing.

“Just a little sting.” It felt like some big bug had taken a chunk out of the left side of her neck, and Sasha hissed in pain. “Sorry,” he said. “Your neck will numb up in a moment.”

Sensation diminished then disappeared, and Sasha had difficulty swallowing. Pressure against her neck, a series of clicks and whines. Though there was no pain, he stretched the skin of her neck smooth and manipulated another tool. Daubed at the site. More pressure.

“There you go,” Mickelson said with triumph in his voice. “A beauty, I must say.”

Sasha turned to him. Mickelson held a pair of forceps. Secured between the thin tips was a blue and white sliver the size of a fat grain of rice.

An NCRC offender status chip.

Her
status chip.

Her hand went to the left side of her neck. She felt the cool stickiness of the liquid bandage he’d applied as it set. Sasha stared at him in disbelief. “You removed it?”

“I did.”

“I—I thought you were only going to deactivate it.”

“I did that first, so you wouldn’t die when I went in,” Mickelson said with a grin. “The anti-tampering ’bots were still functioning, but the inhibitors that quelled the physical cravings for amber were pretty much shot.”

That wasn’t possible. She’d needed the ’bots to stay clean, to resist the amber in Kylie’s blue marble box. Hadn’t she?

“You mean, nothing’s been keeping me from wanting amber since we were at The Morrissey?” She stared at the tech, looking for any sign he was joking.

“Just your own determination,” Nathan said.

The pride in his voice made her chest tight. She kept looking at Mickelson so Nathan wouldn’t see the tears forming in her eyes.

“I would have had to deactivate and remove it anyway,” Mickelson continued. “I just tweaked what the order originally called for.” He shrugged. “As far as Corrections is concerned, you’ve been approved for permanent deactivation, not rechipping. We’ll just ‘forget’ to give you a new chip. Your NCRC ID will be conveniently lost in the system. I can’t completely erase it, but anyone querying the department databases will get redirected to a zero search results screen, as if you’ve never been remanded.”

Nathan squeezed her hand, drawing her attention to him. “You deserve to have your life back, Sasha, without anyone or anything hanging over your shoulder.”

A flurry of emotion overwhelmed her. Relief. Gratitude. She threw herself into his arms, and he grunted as he caught her. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she brought him closer for a long, deep kiss that made her head swim.

Free. She was free. Free to do whatever she wanted, wherever she wanted. With whomever she wanted.

Sasha buried her face in Nathan’s neck, taking in his earthy scent and dampening his collar with the tears she couldn’t contain any longer. “Thank you,” she whispered. “This is more than I expected.”

“But no less than you deserve.” He eased her away to look into her eyes and caress her cheek with the back of his fingers. “You did something you knew would be difficult, that risked your life, to help me get Kylie back. I’m grateful, but more than that, I’m awed by your strength and compassion.” He touched his lips to hers. “And I can’t imagine my life without you. Stay. Please, Sasha. Stay with me.”

He wanted to be with her.

A man like Nathan Sterling wanted a woman like her.

And why the hell not? She deserved to live a normal life with a man who truly cared for her, a man she’d do anything for in a heartbeat, no matter how many times he asked. He knew what she could be; it was high time she started believing it
herself.

“Just try to get rid of me,” she said, and kissed him again.

When they broke the kiss, Nathan smiled at her. He had the best smile in the ’Verse.

He turned to the tech. “I owe you one.”

Mickelson waved his hand in dismissal. “Sure. Though if you can get me a date with Natalia, we’ll call it even.”

Nathan chuckled. “I’ll check, but I don’t think you’re Natalia’s type.” He took the forceps from Mickelson and handed them to Sasha. “You get the honors.”

She laid the chip on the table and Mickelson held out a small metal hammer. It was heavier than it looked. Nathan nodded once.

Sasha smiled then swung the hammer until all that remained of the chip was the tiniest bits of plastic and dust.

* * * * *

Step into a futuristic world of high stakes
and sizzling romance…

Break every rule with author Cathy Pegau.

Liv Braxton’s Felon Rule #1:
Don’t get emotionally involved.

Smash-and-grab thieving doesn’t lend itself to getting chummy with the victims, and Liv hasn’t met anyone on the mining colony of Nevarro worth knowing, anyway. So it’s easy to follow her Rules.

Until Zia Talbot, the woman she’s supposed to deceive, turns Liv’s expectations upside down in a way no woman ever has.

Rulebreaker

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About the Author

Cathy Pegau’s muse always finds some sort of science-fiction, fantasy or paranormal bend to the stories it offers. A self-proclaimed science geek, she studied wildlife biology at universities in North Dakota and Alaska. As an enthusiastic student, she spent summers aboard a research vessel scooping muck from the ocean floor and winters cataloguing the critters there to see what gray whales were eating. One of her first biology jobs found her trundling across the Wyoming prairie—and avoiding rattlesnakes—for a black-footed ferret reintroduction program. She hooted for spotted owls in Southern Oregon and got lost overnight the first week. But that’s another story.

Now, she lives in Alaska with her husband and kids, several pets and the occasional black bear that roams through the yard.

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ISBN: 978-14268-9498-5

Copyright © 2013 by Catherine Pegau

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