Gracie's Touch Zion Warriors 1 (20 page)

Kordon nodded and reluctantly released Gracie’s hand as the medical staff began moving Gracie out of the triage set up in the landing bay. Kordon stiffened when Gracie made a slight whimpering sound at the loss of his touch. One of the other medical staff was checking Ladara over to make sure she wasn’t hurt.

Kordon paused when he felt the light touch on his arm. Turning, he looked at Ladara. “She is an extraordinary woman. I hope she will be alright.”

Kordon nodded briefly. “She will be. See that she is given quarters, food, and fresh clothing.” Kordon ordered to the medical technician before he turned to leave.

“Bran, you have the bridge. I will be in medical should you need me. Send me the reports on the ship as soon as it is done and plan a course for Paulus.” Kordon ordered as the lift opened and he stepped in.

“We should be finished in another ten hours. I’ll get the reports to you immediately. I also have the data collected from the Alluthan mother ship that we were able to download before it exploded. If not for Gracie’s understanding of their programming, we wouldn’t have gotten so much. I am still analyzing their weapons and engineering. Cooraan sent Toolas the information on their organic DNA and he is reviewing the robotic part of them. We will get you the preliminary report as soon as we can.” Bran said as the lift opened onto the level containing the medical unit.

Kordon nodded. His mind was not on the
Conqueror
or even the Alluthans any longer. It was focused solely on Gracie. He knew he needn’t worry about the
Conqueror
. They could run the warship without him for a little while. That was why he chose the crew he had.

Three days later, Gracie’s brain finally decided it had enough sleep and was ready to wake up. She had been conscious part of the time over the past couple of days but she just didn’t have the strength to respond. It was like her body said enough was enough and it was going to do what it wanted for a little while.

She heard Mohan’s soft voice and felt the soft fur from her hands as she brushed over Gracie’s face or hands when she touched her. In the background, she knew Kordon was there. He never left her except to take care of his personal needs. He always returned within what seemed like minutes. She heard other people coming in and out asking Kordon questions or him giving orders but he was always near enough she could feel the warmth of his skin against hers. She liked it when he talked to her. He told her about growing up on Zion and how beautiful it was. He told her about his home there and how he was going to take her there after she woke up. He said his favorite color was green now because of her eyes. Her lips actually twitched at that. She
never would have realized the tough
exterior of the warrior was a cover for a romantic interior. He was always touching her, either her face or her hands or her hair. It didn’t matter. She loved it and would unconsciously move towards it seeking more.

Gracie forced her eyes to crack open just a little so she could look out from under her eyelashes. The room was dim but she could see the glow from the portable tablet in Kordon’s lap. He was talking with Bran and Cooraan.

“We should reach Paulus by tomorrow afternoon. The council has requested a full report as soon as possible.” Bran was saying.

He was leaning up against the wall near the door. Cooraan was sitting in a chair across from Kordon with his legs stretched out in front of him. Both men appeared relax but Gracie could tell something was wrong.

“What is it?” Kordon asked with a frown.

He had already given a detailed report to the council on the Alluthans. The data they had collected, along with the information from Gracie, would be turned over to the appropriate divisions for further analysis. He would make the expected appearance and leave with Gracie for Zion as soon as possible.

Bran cleared his throat before replying. “You know I have some resources inside the council’s inter-circle, don’t you?”

Kordon’s eyes narrowed. Yes, he did know. He had his own resources but had not had time to review any of the reports sent to him with everything going on. From Bran’s tone, though, he thought he better make the time before tomorrow.

“Go on.” Kordon said tightly.

Bran ran a hand across the back of his neck and stood up away from the wall. The conversation had Gracie’s attention now and her brain was quickly assessing what he could possible say. She was somewhat fascinated by the behavior of the other two men as she never expected to see either of them uncomfortable. They always seemed so in control when she saw them.

“My resource says the human councilman has been meeting with some of the other councilmen in secret. He is not even letting any of his aides in and has been very closed-mouth since he found out about Gracie.” Bran was saying.

Gracie’s ears perked up when she heard her name mentioned. Why would they be having private meetings? Gracie knew enough about politics to know it was never good when they started doing that. She remained still hoping to learn more.

“What do you think it is about?” Kordon asked in a low dangerous voice.

Bran held up his hand. “I’m just relaying what I am being told. I think you need to watch you
r
and Gracie’s back. I have a bad feeling about this. I never did like the slimy son-of-a-bitch. He was always too smooth.”

Kordon nodded and looked at Gracie. He started when he saw her watching him intently. A slow smile curved her lips.

“You were just getting to the good part.” She whispered out huskily. “I wanted to know more.”

Cooraan grinned as he stood up. “It is good to have you back with us, Gracie Jones.”

“You scared all of us and that
is not an easy task for a Zion w
arrior.” Bran teased as he took a step closer to Gracie.

Gracie turned her head and looked at the two huge men standing over her. “Thank you. I know you helped rescue me. I can never repay your kindness for all you’ve done to help me.” Gracie whispered softly.

Both men shifted uneasily. If the room hadn’t been so dim, Gracie would have giggled at seeing both of the men actually blushing a little. Bran cleared his throat and shifted from one foot to the other again before stepping up to the bed and brushing a quick kiss across Gracie’s forehead.

“I would do it again in a heartbeat for you, Gracie Jones.” Bran said before stepping back and addressing Kordon who was still gazing at Gracie. “I’ll get back to the bridge. Just watch your backs tomorrow. Quan, Cooraan, and I will also be there to help in case you need anything.”

Kordon turned and looked at his friend and nodded. “Thank you.”

Cooraan reached out a hand and touched Gracie’s cheek softly before bending over and giving her a kiss. “You are one lucky and amazing woman, Gracie Jones.”

Gracie smiled up at Cooraan as he stood up. God, he was huge! “No thanks to Murphy!” She replied with a soft giggle.

Cooraan just grinned back and nodded to Kordon. They had a lot of work to do before they reached Paulus. If Bran had a bad feeling something was going to go down, Cooraan was more than willing to be prepared. He didn’t trust the human councilman any further than he could throw him and that was pretty damn far.

Kordon watched as both men left before turning his attention back to Gracie. She was staring at him with huge, dark green eyes filled with emotion. He gently bent over and pulled her into his arms, burying his face in her neck.

Gracie’s arms wrapped as tightly around his neck as she could in her still weakened state. “I was so afraid.” She whispered hoarsely.

A shudder ran through Kordon at her softly spoken words. “When you are strong again, I believe I told you I was going to whip your ass for doing such as dangerous thing and scaring me so badly.” Kordon murmured teasingly against her neck.

Gracie giggled and pulled back enough so she could rest her forehead against his. “Do you promise?” She whispered.

Kordon groaned as the image made his cock swell with need. “I’ll do more than promise.” He said with a muffled groan. “I need to get you healed as soon as possible. I need to feel you wrapped around me.”

Gracie let her left hand slide down between them until she could feel the hard length pressed against the front of Kordon’s uniform. She ran her fingers along the front and sigh. She was ready to get her strength back too.

“I can feel how much you need me.” Gracie said as a smile lit up her face.

“How long have I been out? What happened? How did you find us?” A worried frown marred her face for a moment. “Is Ladara okay?”

Kordon let out a chuckle as Gracie started firing questions at him. Relief flowed through him. She would be alright. He would do everything in his power to make sure she was safe and well cared for from now on.

“You have been unconscious for the past three and a half days. Mohan refused to rest until you were found. She knew you wanted to come home and insisted on trying to help find you. How she was able to intercept your signal I will never know. I don’t think I would have even noticed it but she did. When I heard your voice…” Kordon stopped and took a deep breath before continuing. “When I heard your voice it was if the gods had blessed me with a gift beyond imagining. Bran adjusted the sensors to scan for the slightest life form. You can imagine how difficult it was to locate one small fighter amongst the remains of the mother ship. We were almost too late.” Kordon whispered as his eyes darkened with the memory.

Gracie reached up and touched Kordon’s cheek. “But, you weren’t.”

Kordon shook his head. “I found you and Cooraan was able to pull the fighter into the transport ship but by then your oxygen was depleted. Ladara’s was not in much better shape. Your body was in the beginning stages of hypothermia, you were in shock from blood loss and your wounds, and out of oxygen. Cooraan picked up your failing respirations on his scanner. He proved what an accomplished pilot he was. The landing bay officer never saw a transport enter and land so quickly without crashing. Luckily, Toolas was prepared for the worse. I was able to get you out and Toolas immediately began working on you. Ladara was still conscious, barely. She told me what happened after you sent her and the other women off. I owe her a life debt for saving you.” Kordon said as he gently pushed Gracie’s thick, strawberry blonde hair away from her face so he could press a kiss into her forehead.

“You were supposed to tell me when she woke.” Toolas’ gentle rebuke came from across the room.

Gracie leaned back and grinned at the healer. “It’s my fault. I wanted to know what happened while I was out of it.”

Toolas laughed. “I’ll tell you exactly what happened. The Admiral has not left your side the entire time and has been running the
Conqueror
from my medical unit.” She said good-naturedly.

Gracie flushed as she looked worriedly from Toolas to Kordon. “I’m sorry. I hate being such a bother. You should have kicked him out.”

Kordon growled at that and Toolas burst out laughing. “Actually, it is nice seeing so many of the crew without having to be treating them. I’ve enjoyed the company. Overall, this is a rather healthy bunch and unless they get hurt it tends to be very quiet and lonely here. Besides, I don’t think there is anything
that would have been able to pee
l the Admiral from your side until he knew for certain you were going to be fine.”

Kordon sent a scrowl at Toolas but didn’t deny it. “You tend to forget everything you have done for the people of the Confederation of Planets. Your skills and your willingness to fight the Alluthans saved thousands, if not more, lives once again…including the Earth which is a part of the Confederation now.” Kordon’s deep voice said firmly.

Toolas smiled and nodded in agreement. “Admiral, if you don’t mind I would like to examine Gracie now that she is awake. Perhaps you would like to take this chance to get cleaned up. I would like for Gracie to eat when I am done. If you like, I can order something for you as well.” Toolas said in her firmest voice.