His Fire Maiden (10 page)

“I wish we could stay,” she whispered. “Never leave.”

Dev’s head tilted back as he quickened his pace. Climax hit them in unison. She tensed, trembling as pleasure washed over her. He stiffened above her, a beautiful statue of masculine perfection. After a long moment, he drew his head down to look again into her eyes.

“The rest of the universe doesn’t matter here,” she said, not really thinking of how much she revealed to him. They were joined in ways beyond that of their physical bodies. “Reality doesn’t matter here.”

“Ugh, fellas, I’m not sure Dev wants to be rescued.”

Violette blinked in confusion at the loud male voice. It took her a moment to realize that three of Dev’s crewmen stood nearby. They averted their gazes as if to give them a moderate amount of privacy. None of them were Josselyn’s husband.

“Maybe we should come back later,” the intruder continued. “Let a guy finish up.”

Violette was wrong. Reality did matter here. It had come to find them, just as it always would.

D
ev quickly rolled
off of Violette and adjusted his pants while attempting to shade her with his body from Rick, Jackson, and Lochlann’s view. Under normal circumstances, he’d have been pleased to see his friends. Considering the compromising position he had Violette in, their timing could have been much better.

“So, are we saving him or…?” Rick covered his eyes but peeked through his fingers.

“Rick,” Dev warned.

“Dev?” Jackson arched a brow to reveal his concerns.

“There are only the two of us,” Dev answered. Then, gesturing in the direction of the canopy, he added, “Well, us, and the native whistlers.”

“Wait, I know her,” Rick exclaimed. “Dev, that’s Violent Violette. She’s the one who wants to kill all of us. Dev, you’re doing Josselyn’s sister?”

Dev glared at the man and opened his mouth. Before he could answer, Lochlann ordered, “Stop talking, Rick, if you know what is good for you.”

“All I’m saying is that Dev is the man,” Rick muttered. “It was a compliment.”

“I am
Captain
Violette,” Violette answered. All gentleness left her tone. Dev resisted the urge to look at her. “I do not want to kill everyone. I am not Josselyn’s sister. And I am not violent.”

“Dev, what does this mean?” Lochlann asked, glancing at Violette.

“I escaped.” Dev wondered how to describe what he had with her. What he wanted to say, and what her take was on their relationship, were probably two very different ideas. “I took her with me.”

“Her crew?” Jackson queried.

“We used the escape pod. They didn’t follow us,” Dev answered.

“Good,” Jackson stated. “Now perhaps we can end this.”

“What?” Violette gasped. She stepped quickly to where the emergency kit was on the ground and searched inside it while keeping her eyes on the men. She withdrew a handheld medic and arched her hand back as if she would throw it at them. “Dev gave me his word that I would be protected. No one is going to end me.”

Jackson arched a brow and drawled, “I meant end the fight between you and your sister, not end your life. If I were going to kill you, I’d have done it already. Josselyn asked us not to.”

“And where exactly is this sister of mine? I’d like to thank her personally for that consideration.” Violette smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. The men didn’t answer. She shrugged and let the smile fall. “Worth a try.”

Violette lowered her arm. Her expression hardened. He wished he could pull her aside for a moment of privacy, or rewind and freeze time to the minutes before Rick interrupted them. There was much he wanted to say to answer her words,
“I wish we could stay. Never leave.
The rest of the universe doesn’t matter here. Reality doesn’t matter here.”

Dev wanted to erase the hardness from her eyes, but now was not the time and he wasn’t equipped to talk about emotions. All he could do for her was try to change her life’s course. That was his plan in taking her. That is what he’d continue to do. “Is the ship nearby?”

“I parked it in—giant spaceholes what in the bloody nova is that thing?” Rick pointed behind Dev.

Dev turned to find one of his Murkernal friends hopping toward him carrying a baby Murkernal in his arms. Soon, the others emerged from beneath the canopy, all holding infants and whistling happily. Dev glanced up to the fruit, and then to Violette, before looking once more at the natives. Apparently, the food he’d given them had extra special side effects.

“No, seriously, what are those things?” Rick demanded.

“Murkernals,” Dev said.

“Dev’s been planting seeds,” Violette supplied. “Ah, congratulations, Devekin, I think you’re a daddy.”

“Exactly how long were you on this planet?” Rick asked, snickering.

“The ship,” Dev demanded. He lifted his hand to gesture politely at the locals even as he stepped away from them. He didn’t want them to get excited and try to climb him again. To Violette, he muttered, “I’m really glad we didn’t eat the fruit.”

“How about we find that ship of yours? I don’t want to catch what they have,” Violette answered. Her eyes turned to where they’d had sex moments before.

Dev nodded. Even though her comment made a small twinge in his gut, he knew she was right. Of course, he didn’t want to get her pregnant. That would be impractical given their circumstance, and he knew how hard it was to raise a baby on a spaceship. Then why was he feeling so…

“Thank you, stranger, thank you,” one of the cheery, little, bouncing beings said.

Dev frowned. “Time to go.”

W
ell
, Violette got what she wanted. She’d wanted to remain kidnapped so she would be brought onto Dev’s ship, and that’s exactly what happened. Unfortunately, her “sister” wasn’t on board. The murderer couldn’t hide forever. She’d find Josselyn and the next time she wouldn’t hesitate to do what needed to be done. The weakness she’d felt on Quazer could not happen again. She shouldn’t have let Josselyn walk away.

Apparently, fearing what might await them on the rescue mission to get Dev, the crew dropped off the captain, his wife, and their son, as well as Evan and Josselyn. Violette couldn’t imagine trying to raise a baby with her lifestyle. Maybe someday having children would be a possibility. She glanced at Dev. Would they even make good parents?

They? Violette turned her eyes away. She couldn’t think like that. They were not a “they”. The ache inside her grew stronger.

Violette desperately wished she could pick up a communicator and call her father. She wouldn’t tell him she was having relationship issues, but it would be great just to hear his voice. Now she was alone with no one to call when she was having a bad day. It’s not like Isaac would want to chat about her feelings.

“Are you hearing me?” Dev asked, studying her from across the small table in the common area. He’d been trying to justify what Josselyn had done. Violette was sure the woman had her reasons, but those reasons didn’t change the fact that a good man was dead. Sighing, he continued, “Do you not trust my word? If so, I will stop speaking.”

“I believe you believe her lies,” Violette stated. “I do not.”

He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back in his chair. She felt the divide between them but didn’t know how to conquer it. When they were together, alone, kissing and touching, she experienced their deep connection. In those moments, there was clarity. In the seconds after that clarity left her, and she felt emptier than before.

Duty. That is what she needed to remember.

Dev did not love her. They were on opposite sides of the blood oath she’d sworn to her dead father. Wishing to change that fact would do no good and only made the ache inside her chest worse. He was close, right there within touching distance, and yet she could not have him, not all of him as she wanted. The sorrow that filled her made her want to cry out, but she held the emotion in.

Family first. Duty second. Then everything else.

She glanced around the metal common area. The ship was larger and much nicer than hers. It looked like an older model decommissioned by the Federation.

“Got it,” Rick stated, strolling into the room with an old holo-box. She wasn’t sure what to make of the pilot. He seemed careless and light, but she had a feeling his jokes were a mask hiding something much deeper. There were fleeting moments as they walked back to the ship that his guard had fell when he thought no one watched to reveal sadness in his eyes. Seeing her looking at him now, he questioned, “How’s it going…Velvet Violette?”

“No,” Violette stated in response to the new name.

“Vengeful Violette?”

“No,” she repeated.

“Ah, no worries.” Rick winked. “I’ll keep working on your pirate name, starbeam.”

Dev stiffened and grabbed the holo-box from Rick. “I will launch you into deep space.”

“Message received, mission command.” Rick loosely saluted Dev and then plopped down on a chair several feet away.

“The captain’s wife found this hidden in the ducts of the ship.” Dev set the box down. “I thought you might like to see it.”

Violette had a feeling she already knew who was on the holo-box. She reached forward and activated it. The miniature image of her father appeared in his shiny white uniform. He looked younger than when he’d recorded the first holo-box she’d found of him. The holograph caused an unexpected flood of emotion. Tears burned her nose and threatened her eyes. She held them back.

“Top secret. Prisoner two, two, five release order number six, nine, twelve. This is General Stephans of the New Earth Settlement on Florencia’s Fifth Moon.” The holographic image paused before stating, “This is General Stephans of what was
formerly
the Earth Settlement on Florencia’s Fifth Moon and this is an official order of release authorized by my superiors and hereby given to the commanding warden in Ice Complex Five, Authorization code H forty-seven, fifty-one. When the ice storms came nearly forty years ago, many of my men were killed. It was too cold to stay and finish our work releasing certain political prisoners and we abandoned post on supreme orders. However, there are a few who remain that should not, as they have been pardoned for their crimes. Attached is a list of prisoners set for immediate release. They will be hostile and should be escorted and left on the Rifflen base in the V Quadrant. No provisions beyond those orders are necessary.”

Violette waited as the holographic image faded. She missed that voice. She missed knowing he was out there in the universe.

“The general commanded that Josselyn be freed. She should not have been imprisoned to begin with, but you can, at least, see that she was pardoned.” Dev hesitated before reaching across the table to take her hand. “She’s not a criminal.”

“All this proves is that my father ordered her released.” Violette studied the red fingers against hers.

“It proves he had her locked on Ice Complex Five,” Rick stated, oddly serious. “Though if you saw the complex, you’d know what that place really is. Just a fancy name for—”

“Florencia’s Fifth Moon,” Violette supplied, not wanting to hear whatever nickname Rick came up with for the Ice Complex. “I know. My mother was from there. They were part of a human culture preservation project of Old Earth living history—a place for humanoid schoolchildren and bored tourist to go on vacation. Medieval period or something they called the Fifth Moon. The project went defunct. The settlement was abandoned, and the Federation used the location for an ice prison.”

“Defunct?” Rick snorted. “That’s one way of putting it.”

“It stopped earning money, and they abandoned it. I read the historical report on the moons. It’s sad, but those things happen. How else would I put it?” Violette glared at the man. She knew she was spoiling for an argument, and he looked as good as a place to start as any.

“Oh, I don’t know, maybe that the weather satellites were purposefully destroyed, throwing the moon into an inhabitable state, mainly to hide the crime of a mass genocide from the rest of the universes because—”

“Rick, don’t you have a ship to fly?” Dev interrupted the brewing dispute.

“Autopilot,” Rick answered.

“Then you’re saying we don’t need to keep you on board?” Dev arched a brow in warning.

“You’re grumpy when you’re getting laid,” Rick muttered. He stood and moved for the door. “I’m going for food, but don’t think I’m bringing you back anything after you threatened to eject me from the ship.”

Violette waited until Rick left them alone. “Why show me this recording, Dev?”

“To explain why I’m taking you to Ice Complex Five. Why you need to go there to see it. I want you to consider that revenge may not be the answer you’re looking for.” He nodded toward the box. “The real answers may lie there, in the past.”

“Why did you release Josselyn?” Violette pulled her hand away from his instantly missing the contact of his skin to hers. Even now, with the pain mixing inside her chest, she desired to move closer to him. She wanted to sit on his lap and have him hold her. She longed to kiss him until there was nothing remaining but a rush of pleasure. “It wasn’t for your people to do. If you had left her there, we wouldn’t be here right now having this conversation.”

A different wave of pain washed over her. If they had left Josselyn to rot, then her father would be alive, but then she would have never crossed paths with Dev. That thought stung. Her life had been so empty before Dev came into it. Strange, but very true.

“Because the idea of someone trapped inside stone for a century due to a lost communication was an unbearable option,” he said. “We had no choice. I would like to think you would have done the same thing.”

The truth was, she probably would have. Or she would have at least told her father about the prisoner and let him deal with it.

Dev stood. “Would you like food? Or would you like me to show you to where you can sleep?”

“Sleep.” Violette doubted she could keep any food down. The knot her in stomach and thoughts churning in her head would make it impossible. Her eyes strayed to the holo-box and to the memory of the man it showed. “I’d like to sleep.”