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docking bay this enormous and she knew that the
Snow Queen
had twelve others just like it.

They hadn’t given it the name the
Snow Queen
lightly. The ship was huge and fast. They would

be able to take down the Triad, if the other ships in Devlin’s armada were this formidable.

“Are you that worried?” he brought her to face him.

“Devlin, I have been worried since the attacks from the telepaths. Hell, I’ve been worried

since Charlotte popped back into our lives.”

“You’ve handled insane situations before. I thought you were supposed to be the Queen

of Danger.”

“I am a danger queen when that peril doesn’t involve my family being right in the thick

of it.”

Her thoughts drifted. Rory was stuck in the middle, Charlotte was manipulating from the

MAXIMUM VELOCITY Marly Mathews 203

sidelines and Johanna and she were the only ones that could make sense out of it all.

“Why don’t we go back to where you can think in privacy?”

“My thoughts can’t be too private when I am around you,” she muttered, staring up at

him. Fate had thrust him into her life—now she just had to trust that fate would somehow sort

everything else out as well. It had finally achieved its predestined goal of shoving her and

Devlin together.

“That sounds so romantic when you think it like that,” he mused, wrapping his arms

around her and pulling her close.

“When we get out of this fix I want to find a nice quiet planet somewhere and just take

some time away from it all. I think I need a break.”

“A workaholic like you and you want to take a break? I thought the thrill of the bounty

hunt kept you going day after day?”

“Not anymore—let’s just say the revelations of the last few days have sort of made me

want to explore other horizons. Not that I want to give up bounty hunting, I just can’t really see

the allure of it now. My life got me on this road where I am now.”

“With me,” he murmured, hurt glittering in his eyes.

“No, the bounty hunting never took me to you. Johanna did that… and she wasn’t on the

job when she found you. I am talking about Tyler. I found him while going for a bounty—I

never should have tried to bring in one of his friends—if I hadn’t....” She let out a prolonged

sigh.

He tightened his hold on her. “None of us have power over changing what happened in

our pasts. If we did—the world would be filled with people rushing to fix what they think went

wrong. Out of all of the heartache Tyler caused you he pushed you away straight into my arms

and I am thrilled about that.”

She rested her head on his chest. Not ripping out each other’s throats made her feel

contented. She started, looking up at him.

“Good God. I just had a realization.”

“I know… I heard it,” he answered wryly. “If it was going to surprise you that much....”

“No, it just feels surreal. I don’t know what people will think when they find out how

high I have risen in Intergalactic Society.”

“They’ll show you respect and most will be deeply envious of you. The circles you will

now have access to....”

“Come on, you were right. We should return to our quarters and make the most of the

time we have left.”

His eyes bored deeply into hers. “I don’t like the foreboding in your voice, Samantha.

Nothing is going to happen to either one of us.”

“Just promise me that if something happens when we’re fighting the Triad, you’ll save

what is left of my family.”

“I won’t leave without you.”

“Don’t worry about me, I have a way of coming back from the worst possible futures,

just listen to my request, Dev. I can’t go into the lair of the Triad tomorrow without knowing

that you will help Quinn get Rory out and that if you had to choose between Johanna and me

you’d choose Johanna. If it looks like everything is going to pot I have a better chance of coming

out alive than Johanna does, trust me on that one!”

Fury lit his eyes. “Don’t put me into that situation. I love Johanna but I am in love with

you. I will not leave you behind…not for anything, Samantha.”

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He held her close, and she let him, savoring the sound of his heart beating. “Let’s go and

have some time to ourselves. I want to make this a night to remember. My marriage to you is a

fresh start in another new phase of my life—I don’t want to squander that, Dev.”

They walked back to their rooms. “I just realized something. Everything I owned is on

that ship save for the few clothes Johanna stuffed into that bag you’re holding.”

“You’re not going to require much clothing for the rest of the night, darling, and come

the morning if you don’t have anything to wear, I am quite certain that Jewel has something

befitting your kick ass body.”

She pulled him to her and kissed him gently on the lips. Caressing his cheek, she entered

his mind. Thoughts swirled around her, and his love wrapped her in a tight cocoon, and

endowed her with a lingering feeling of warmth that would last her for the rest of her life.

He picked her up and commanded the door to open. Carrying her over the threshold her

heart raced with excitement.

He kissed her again this time with more fervor. Her dress felt heavy on her body.

“Before,” she murmured between kisses, “We continue....” He kept kissing her and dropped her

onto the bed. She bounced on the bed, laughing. She sobered quickly thinking of what was

ahead of them tomorrow. “Devlin, we have to make the most of tonight and act like we have no

tomorrow.”

His eyes bored deeply into hers.

“You keep dwelling on the depressing side of tomorrow, Samantha. You’ve triumphed

over much worse odds, I don’t like you obsessing like this.”

She held his hand to her heart. “I want to tell you that I...,”

Sighing, she squeezed his hand. “That you what?”

His gaze narrowed.

“I feel like a part of me is going to die tomorrow.”

Fear lined his features. She could almost hear his heart beating, no, pounding against his

chest.

“Never,” he said fervently. “I haven’t just found you only to lose you.” His voice strained

with emotion.

“Still, there is that possibility.”

“There’s a possibility for a great many wondrous things in this universe, darling but I

don’t like to think that one of them includes losing you.”

She kissed him again, placing her hands flat on his chest. “Just forget about what I said.

Let’s make the most out of our wedding night and forget everything and everyone else.”

“I can do that,” he muttered. Despite his vocal agreement she could feel his emotions

warring with each other inside of him—he was terrified in a way she’d never felt any other man

terrified before. Nothing could scare Devlin only the thought of losing someone he loved made

him vulnerable.

For him she could try to evade what she felt was inevitable.

But sometimes—she couldn’t run from fate. She’d tried in the past and failed miserably,

and she doubted that would change for her in the future.

“No more dismal thoughts of the future, Samantha,” Devlin commanded, caressing her

calf. He slowly took off both of her shoes and then moved to slip off her one silk stocking and

then reached for her other leg. “So beautiful,” he murmured, kissing her calf and making her toes

curl. The corset on the dress was restricting her heavy breathing.

“I think I need to get this dress off, sooner rather than later,” she murmured, looking

MAXIMUM VELOCITY Marly Mathews 205

down into his blazing eyes. The hungry look he gave her made her tingle inside. He pulled her

forward and reached all the way up her skirt till he touched her inner thighs.

“So, lovely,” he murmured again slowly slipping her panties off.

“Okay, wait a second, you need to remove the dress first,” she murmured watching his

head disappear beneath the material of her dress. She shrieked when she felt his hot mouth on

her pussy. “Good lord, Devlin.” Tensing she gradually relaxed as he brought her shuddering with

another orgasm. This man was a God with the way he knew how to love a woman. Choosing

Tyler over Devlin was the worst mistake of her life.

She watched him as he emerged from under her gown. “I think we need to unwrap you

like a present and get you buck naked,” he said, pulling her up to her shaky feet.

“If you’re going to unwrap me, I get to unwrap you.”

His eyes flared again with passion and he smiled at her seductively. “I am all yours,

darling,” he murmured.

She looked over to two flutes of pink champagne that someone had poured for them and

left sitting on the table. Kissing his cheek, she dashed toward the champagne flutes with him hot

on her tail.

She picked up the handwritten letter next to them.

‘I managed to keep this away from Ross. Cheers to your new life, you lucky woman.’

~Big V.

She picked up the one crystal flute and handed Devlin the other one. “To us,” she

laughed, drinking down the bubbly liquid. She closed her eyes. “Damn. That’s not Champagne

from Earth.”

“No, I like the more exotic brands,” he stated simply, placing down his flute and reaching

to snake his arms around her. He pulled her hard against his chest.

“Now, where were we?”

“Right here,” she murmured breathlessly, kissing him with all of the passion rolling

through her body. Turning her around, he deftly had her dress on the floor before she could

blink.

“I will say one thing, Devlin, you’re a smooth operator,” she murmured.

“And you will never change which I like,” he said, sweeping her off her feet and carrying

her back to the bed.

“When this night is over you might find that you’re too tired to fight the Triad. Why

don’t you just let me and my armada do it?”

She frowned. “Nothing is going to deter me from fighting those assholes face to face,

Dev. Not even you.” She pulled him down toward her. She wanted to bottle this moment and

hold it in her heart forever. Devlin had discarded his clothing as fast as he’d rid her of her own

clothing.

He entered her quickly filling her with his cock. She moaned with pleasure as he set the

pace of their lovemaking. Soon, he would have her flying with ecstasy and she’d be able to

forget her troubles for a few hours.

She would take those few moments of bliss gladly. For when she woke up in the

morning she’d be facing an army of madmen and madwomen.

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Charlotte looked at Tyler on the view screen. He stood next to the Matriarch.

“We look forward to having you back in the bosom of our family, Charlotte,” The

Matriarch said, her cunning eyes flickering with excitement. “Once I have wiped out the rest of

the Mallory’s and make Aurora a permanent fixture within our Triad I will help you with what

you seek.”

“No, damn it, I want you to help me now! Without going back I can’t hope to stand

against Samantha and her sisters.”

“Sister. Only Johanna travels toward us right now.”

“Oh, you might think that but Jessica is on her way as well. Their mother knows. She

knows the Mallory’s need to stand together or else they will fall.”

“The Mallory’s are already broken, I need only fire one more shot into the heart of their

family, once I kill Johanna in front of Samantha you will be able to move against her and kill

her.”

“And you honestly believe that Quinn and Devlin will allow that?”

“They are nothing, they are insignificant peons.”

“Quinn carries the gift as well. He might repress it, but the spark is there and he won’t

take kindly to seeing you murder Johanna. He will act against you, mark my words.”

“Come aboard the ship, dear child, and then we will continue our argument.”

“No, I want your word now! I want to go back into The Void and bring out…,”

“Out of the question. You go too far. You will hold your tongue until we can have a

private audience. Who knows who is monitoring these channels.”

“I am not strong enough. You promised when you opened the portal that you would one

day have enough power to pull through the rest of my bloodline. You are not holding true to

your word.”

“Never make such accusations when a view screen exists between us, Carina. You will

obey me. Come aboard my ship and we will discuss how we are going to proceed.”

“Yeah, you’re going to use that thing that Tyler brought back to you and you’re going to

open me a path to The Void and then you’re going to call forth the rest of my family—if you

don’t, I’ll make sure I kill you before Samantha is able to kill me!”

“You have just threatened me, Carina. Now, I must decide whether or not I will spare

your life. I think I just might have you enter mortal combat with the one named Samantha when

she arrives here. I will be delighted to see who emerges victorious in that battle.”

“When Samantha realizes what you are doing, do you think you’ll have any hope of

surviving her fury even if you have the Triad’s protection? Step lightly; Carina if you don’t you