Taking Liberty (15 page)

Her fingers dug into the cloth covering his knee. “Do you think they spotted us?”

The approaching clipper slowed, its corroded copper platform resembling a giant hovering penny. Quarrel stood near the captain's rail, his beady eyes zeroing in on the ring of boulders.

“Damn, guess that answers my question.” Rini's hand slipped from his thigh and tightened on the butt of her rifle. She glanced at him and took a deep breath. “I always told myself I'd never go to my grave with important things left unsaid. Well, I love you. I figure as far as important stuff goes that ranks pretty high up there.”

He stared at her, a strange glow starting to well inside his chest. It took a few seconds to recognize it as happiness.
This has to be the weirdest moment of my life
.

Rini bit her bottom lip and returned her focus to the clipper slowly creeping their way. “I hope my saying that didn't make you uncomfortable or anything. Like I said, I just wanted—”

“I love you too.”

Her attention swung back on him and he almost laughed at the shocked look on her face. “Honey, you might want to close your mouth. There's a whole swarm of gnats buzzing this way.”

“I didn't expect you to say it back.”

Quarrel's voice suddenly boomed from the clipper's telecom speakers, preempting Lucus's reply. “You have ten seconds to surrender yourselves.”

“Take your ten seconds and shove it up your ass.” Lucus angled his rifle around the boulder and fired off a shot.

A tsking sound floated from the telecom. “Your attempts at postponing the inevitable are both amusing and pathetic.” Quarrel waddled to the side, making room for a guard outfitted with a Halzitron laser scope strapped to his shoulder. One hit from the weapon, and the boulders would disintegrate, right along with Rini and Lucus.

His lips twisting in a cocky smile, the general tapped his cane. “We're now at five seconds.”

Lucus reached out and squeezed Rini's hand before lifting to his feet. “Let her go, Quarrel. She has nothing to do with this.” Ignoring Rini's distressed cry, he stepped away from the rocks and began walking towards the clipper. The guards immediately trained their guns on him and he tossed the rifle aside. “I'm the one you want. Take me.”

The sound of running footsteps alerted him to Rini's approach.
Damn it, why can't she ever stay put
? She hauled up short next to him and he speared her with an irate stare. “What the hell are you doing?”

“I'm not leaving you.”

“Rini—”

She grasped his hand, her grip steady and sure. He wished he could say the same for his heart rate.

“I'm not leaving you,” she repeated.

God, she was stubborn. And more than a little whacked.
No wonder I'm crazy about her
. He leaned down and kissed her hard.

“Enough! All this lovey-dovey shit is giving me indigestion.”

Lucus released Rini and glared at Quarrel. “You've got us, you son of a bitch. Let's not drag this out any longer than it has to be. Forget your fancy death tanks and whatever other bullshit torture devices you have. Just shoot us in the back like the fucking coward you are.”

An angry red stain mottled the general's face. “
Coward?
”

“What else am I supposed to call someone who brings along a dozen guards to protect himself from one man and a woman?” Lucus squared his jaw combatively.

Sucking in his massive gut, Quarrel straightened his spine. “I'm not afraid of either of you. Especially not the woman.”

Rini gritted her teeth but surprisingly didn't say anything. A ramp extended from the clipper and the general limped down, followed by two of his guards. Quarrel stopped a few feet from them and leaned on his cane.

Lucus grunted. “Only two, huh? Mighty brave.”

Pure evilness glinted in Quarrel's cold eyes. “I'm going to enjoy killing you. Men, seize them.”

Both guards stepped forward. The closest one grabbed Lucus's arm but the other shuffled to a halt and blinked at the sky.

“What are you doing, you moron?” Quarrel appeared on the brink of having an epileptic fit while he waved his tentacles in the air. “Grab the girl!”

“Uh, sir…”

“Do I have to do everything myself?” Quarrel waddled forward the same instant a sonic boom shook the ground. Everyone tumbled sideways and few screams pierced the air.

In the chaos that ensued, Lucus reached for Rini. She was no longer by his side. Panicked, he pivoted and noticed her sprawled a few yards to the left of him. He scrambled towards her just as another quake rippled through the atmosphere. The disturbance propelled him to his knees. “Jesus Christ, is the goddamn planet exploding?”

Rini rolled onto her back. Her groan turned to a gasp. “I don't believe it. Lucus, look!”

He followed her gaze to the sky. Ten enormous wing guard carriers were hurtling towards them. Each bore the official seal of the UGG on their shiny bellies.

Hysterical laughter bubbled from Rini. “They found us.”

“About damn time.” Lucus pushed from the ground, his attention locked on the squadron of ships. “I never thought I'd say this, but fuck am I happy to see those bastards.”

A furious shout came from Quarrel. Lucus turned and spied the general hobbling after his departing clipper. He gave up when the vehicle sped out of sight and instead made an obscene gesture with four of his tentacles.

Lucus's chuckle petered off as dozens of scout pods ejected from the overhead battleships. Seeing all those armored cylinders descending through space was enough to give a man shivers. He was just grateful his ass wasn't the one with the big ole bull's-eye on it.

“They're beautiful, aren't they?”

He heard the awe in Rini's voice and glanced at her. She looked like a kid who'd woken up Christmas morning and discovered an entire toy store beneath the tree. “They're all right.”

She gaped at him. “That's over a billion tons of sleek, highly efficient fighting machines up there, and all you can say is they're—” She broke off when he grinned. “You are such a smart-ass.”

The first scout landed. Its hatch door hissed open and three soldiers decked out in camo flight suits climbed from the pod. The tallest pushed up his helmet shield and peered at Rini. “Are you Ms. Campell?”

Rini frowned. “Yes. How in the universe did you know that?”

“Ma'am, your family put out a search request for you two days ago. When headquarters picked up a distress call from Aquatica of all places, your parents feared you might have gotten yourself in a bit of trouble.”

Lucus snorted. “Wonder what'd put that loony idea in their heads?”

She elbowed him in the ribs before turning a beaming smile on the soldier. “You have no idea how ecstatic we are to see—” Her statement broke off with a shriek when eight tentacles wrapped around her body and yanked her against Quarrel's blubberous gut.

Three red dots appeared on the general's forehead—courtesy of the soldiers' laser subguns. Despite the heavy artillery surrounding them, a wash of queasy dread churned in Lucus's stomach. “Let her go, Quarrel. You're outnumbered.”

Desperation etched the general's rubbery face. “I want one of those pods and a free ticket out of here. If you don't honor my demands, I'm snapping her neck.”

Rini's exaggerated sigh blanketed Lucus's growl. “You know, it's extremely rude to touch someone without being invited.” With a shrill warrior's cry, she swung her leg back and crunched the heel of her foot into Quarrel's groin.

Roaring, the general released her and flopped to the ground. Rini wiped her hands on the seat of her pants. “Man, he's slimy.” Grimacing, she glanced towards the soldiers who were all staring at her slack-jawed. “Hey, anyone have any antibacterial wipes?”

The soldier who'd spoken earlier sidled up next to Lucus. “Is she always this…?”

“Nuts?” Lucus filled in the blank for him. “Hell, you have no idea.”

Chapter Sixteen

“This is the last one, I promise.”

Rini eyed the slim cylinder the doc was inserting into the inoculator chamber. “You said the same thing the last eight pokes you gave me.”

“True, but this time I actually mean it.” He pressed the wand on her biceps. Searing heat pricked her skin, followed by a puff of air. “See, that wasn't so bad.”

“Easy for you to say.”

Chuckling, the doc exited through the sliding stainless-steel door, leaving her alone in the small medi-port room her parents had insisted on admitting her into. Much as she appreciated her parents' concern for her well-being, the austere white walls were starting to give her a major headache. Plus she missed Lucus. All this would be way more bearable if they could snuggle together in the same bed.

The door whisked open and her heart gave an excited leap. Her parents walked into the room, all smiles and happy tears. She immediately felt guilty for the momentary twinge of disappointment that struck when she realized they weren't Lucus. Guilt morphed into a heavy tightness in her chest as her mother burst into racking sobs. She never could handle seeing her mom cry. “It's okay. I'm fine now.”

Plopping onto the corner of the thin mattress, her mom wrapped her in a fierce hug. “Darling, we were so terrified. Don't ever scare us that way again.”

Rini stifled a smile. “Yes, Mom. I'll try very hard not to crash on any more planets.”

“This is why I never wanted you to become a field agent.” Her mom's head lifted, and Rini peered into red-rimmed eyes that were a mirror of her own. “Your father and I have been talking and we think it'd be best—”

“No.”

“Darling, don't be stubborn.”

Dragging in a deep breath, Rini struggled to remain calm. The only way to tackle her parents was with reason. Flying off the handle or throwing a temper tantrum would only bite her in the butt. She settled her focus on her dad. He looked like he'd inherited several more gray hairs in the past week and deep lines of fatigue bracketed his mouth. She hated making them worry this way, but they needed to let her be her own woman. “I'm not going back behind the desk. I hate it there.”

“We'll lighten your load. Jeffrey has been eager to pick up some overtime. I'm sure he'll—”

“Mom, listen to me.” Frustrated, Rini scraped a hand through her tangled hair. “I need more out of life than shuffling papers. Please understand that.”

Her mother's mouth pinched in disapproval. “This renewed stubbornness you're showing has something to do with that pilot you were stranded with, doesn't it?”

“Lucus has nothing to do with this.”

“According to the doctor, you and the pilot seem very…close.”

Rini tossed up her hands. “How in the universe did this conversation twist around to my relationship with Lucus?”

Surprised flickered over her mom's face. “The two of you have developed a relationship? Rini, you've just met this man.”

“Yes, but in the short time we've been together, I feel closer to him than any man I've ever known. Except for dad, of course.”

Her father gave a weak smile. More than likely he was trying to keep out any nightmarish images of his daughter having wild, sweaty desert sex with a pilot.

“Lucus also took extremely good care of me after my brush with the nictick.” She speared both her parents with a censorious look. “He's the reason I'm lying here, safe and sound, rather than stuck as a pile of ash in a crematorium tube.”

“Darling, do not forget you were sent to repossess his ship.” Her mother squeezed her hand reassuringly. “Surely that isn't the sort of individual you want to be in a relationship with?”

“All that was a misunderstanding. His brother Chase forgot to drop off the payments. And with all the drama of rescuing his brother from Quarrel and then submitting to the general's demands of running his smuggling operation, Lucus had too much on his mind the last few months.”

“
Smuggling
?” Her mother swayed and clutched at the bedframe.

“Well, he wasn't in it by choice. The general backed him into a corner. See, Chase was caught doing the mattress mambo with Quarrel's concubine and Lucus couldn't let his brother go belly-up in a death tank.”

Both her parents goggled at her and she inwardly groaned.
Oh man, what was in those inoculations? They're making me run my mouth off.

“Maybe we'd better let Rini get some sleep.” Clearing his throat, her dad strode to the bedside and gave her a peck. “Rest, honey, we'll be back to check on you later.”

Wearing an expression like Rini had just sprouted an extra head, her mom rose and slumped against her husband's side with a melodramatic sob. Waiting until her parents abandoned the room, Rini rolled her eyes. “Oh brother.” She fluffed her pillow and tried not to stare directly at the glaring white ceiling. After a few minutes boredom began to sink in and she started to drift off. The sound of the door opening jerked her back to consciousness. “Hey, I thought you guys wanted me to sleep.”

“Well fuck, I had other plans in mind for you.”

At the sound of Lucus's amused baritone, she snapped her head around.

A delectable grin spread across his face. “Guess I'm shit out of luck, huh?”

She yanked back the covers and patted the mattress. “Get your cute buns over here.”

“Damn, I love me a woman who knows how to take charge.” He locked the door and stalked towards her, his gait loose and easy, the gleam in his eyes promising her a whole hell of a lot of fun. Her gaze ate him up, loving the way his navy blue T-shirt clung to his muscled torso and the placket of his jeans cupped his steadily growing erection.

He stopped in front of her and she swung her legs over the side of the bed, straddling his thighs. With impatient fingers, she shoved his shirt out of the way. He pulled the fabric over his head and she kissed his chiseled abdomen. His soft groan made her pussy clench. She fumbled with his zipper, wishing she could be all smooth, practiced seduction and teasing temptress, but her need for him outweighed all else.