Rebel's Quest (25 page)

“And from our side—” Paladin began.

“I will go,” O’Daybo said, sounding larger than her size. Tiny, the woman still oozed strength and determination.

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” Paladin stated.

“I have information regarding these places that can be useful,” O’Daybo insisted. “I should be one of the two chosen. I also am familiar with the Onotharian way of thinking, since I’m a Gantharian-Onotharian hybrid.”

“Very well.” It was obvious to Kellen that Paladin wasn’t happy. “And the second from our team?”

“I should be the one,” the camp doctor, referred to only as Doc, said. “It’s only logical to assume that the people on Kovos need medical assistance.”

“Makes sense,” Paladin murmured darkly. “So, now we have to review the plans, with everyone in place. We’ll practice until we all know them by heart. We can’t make a mistake.”

“Affirmative,” Doc said, and sat down at a long table. “Do I team up with you, Protector?”

“Yes, I agree that you’re needed on Kovos,” Kellen said, and continued the briefing. “You look strong and resilient, and so am I. We can pose as husband and wife, if necessary.” Kellen drew her breath at the sight of Rae, who listened next to them.
How does that feel for her to hear? She looks unfazed.
“Commander Grey will team up with O’Daybo and use their combined tactical skills at Vaksses.” She continued to unveil her plan for rescuing the captured rebels and thus reinforcing the teams the SC so desperately required for a full-scale attack.

*

“Mother. Please, don’t do this. I’ve told you I can’t have any bodyguards with me right now. I’m a grown woman and I need my privacy.” Andreia sighed and rapped her fingernails against the table holding the communication equipment. The mountain communication room was at her disposal, and she fought to stay calm as she listened to her mother’s tirades. Andreia had managed to call her on a rerouted voice comm link that would be virtually impossible to trace, according to Roshan.

“Privacy? That’s a new one,” Le’Tinia huffed. “What could possibly be so…Oh. I see. You’re away with Roshan O’Landha, aren’t you?” Her voice changed from annoyed to immensely pleased in seconds.

“Eh, yes. I am.” Andreia thought it better to stick to at least some truth. “I’ll be gone for a few days. We’re going…hiking.” She groaned inwardly at her reply, but her mother seemed to swallow it unreservedly.

“Very well. There’s a lot going on at the moment,” Le’Tinia said, “but you can always catch up when you get back. This is far more important for you to pursue. O’Landha has built herself an empire, and if she hadn’t been so elusive and reluctant to give interviews or make public appearances, someone would have snapped her up by now. She always was a bit aloof as a girl, wasn’t she? And now she controls the majority of the import-export business in this hemisphere.”

“Have you been running a dossier on her, Mother?” Andreia was appalled. “It’s Roshan, for goodness sake. I’ve known her for decades!”

“It’s never wrong to be methodical. She’s a catch, that’s true, but you can’t be too careful. We want you with just the right person. It’s about time.”

“Don’t push me, Mother,” Andreia said warningly.

“I’m not pushing. I know what’s best for my girl.”

Le’Tinia’s audacity and blatant conviction that she had her daughter pegged once and for all infuriated Andreia. “Just like you knew what was best for Trax?” she snapped.

Without the advantage of a video call, Andreia still knew her mother had paled and was now breathing in short little gasps, like she always did when her son was mentioned. He rarely was, these days. It was sad, but also a welcome change from all the praises at dinnertime she’d had to sit through.

“Trax was different,” Le’Tinia said sorrowfully. “Trax wasn’t strong enough, even if he seemed invincible until the end. If that woman hadn’t committed a crime against us that way—”

“We’ve been over this a thousand times. We’ll never agree, Mother. It was a mistake for me to bring it up. Let’s leave it at that.” Andreia leaned against the wall, slumped and tired.

“As you wish.” Clearly Le’Tinia could have dived further into this subject, but relented with a pout in her voice. “I certainly wouldn’t want to spoil a romantic getaway for you.”

“You’re not.”

“You seem quite taken with this woman.”

“I’ve always liked Roshan, Mother.”

Le’Tinia laughed. “Liked? You were always infatuated with her. And it didn’t take long for that look in your eyes to reappear.”

“I’m sure you’re correct, Mother.”

“Of course I am. When I think about how the two of you danced—”

“Wait. Someone wants to use the communicator,” Andreia lied, and stood up from her chair. “Give Father my best.”

“I will. And cultivate this relationship. You could do worse, you know.”

Andreia said good-bye, relieved to draw a deep breath and terminate the conversation. She held on with both hands to the backrest of the chair in the communication room.

“So you like me, huh?” Roshan’s alto voice rumbled, and Andreia turned so quickly, she had to cling to the chair so she wouldn’t fall over.

“Ro!”
How much did she overhear?

“Yes.” Roshan glided toward her with a mix of the leisurely feline and cold-minded predator. “Your mother says you have a
look
in your eyes when you see me.” Roshan walked up to Andreia and cornered her against the wall, between two of the tables. “Let’s see if I can’t get you to look at me that way now.”

“Please.” Her throat dry, it was hard to say the words. “Ro?”

Roshan placed a hand against the side of Andreia’s neck and caressed it in slow circles. “How about that?” she murmured. “You’re so damn soft. It’s as if there were no bones, just wiry muscles under your skin. And that caramel skin, that olive tint, makes me want to stay up until whatever ungodly hour to touch you, and have you touch me.” Roshan placed two fingers under Andreia’s chin. “And you’d touch me so sweetly, wouldn’t you? With your small, gentle hands against my skin?”

It was impossible to breathe. Andreia’s world shrank until it consisted of the bright blue eyes of the woman towering over her. Standing next to the Protector, Roshan had seemed like a slightly older version of Kellen O’Dal. The resemblance was uncanny, and Andreia had found herself shifting her gaze between the two striking women who seemed cut from the same mineral ore. They were both lethal in the most literal way, yet they also seemed capable of great affection. The way the Protector had taken Admiral Jacelon’s hand when they left the mission room for some privacy spoke volumes and reminded Andreia of how Roshan’s tenderness could surface unexpectedly. “Roshan?” Andreia breathed. “Please. Why are you acting this way?”

“You were quick to
volunteer
.” Roshan slid her hands languidly around Andreia’s neck, followed the neckline of her black shirt, and stopped at the first fastener.

“I
am
the best one for that particular assignment.” Out of breath, barely able to focus on her own words, Andreia tried to move away, but found it impossible. Her legs had stopped functioning, and she couldn’t tear her eyes from Roshan’s.

“Yes. That may well be true, but did you expect me to merely send you on your way without any chance of finding out?”

Confusion battled with a dark, heavy feeling that spread throughout Andreia’s system. “What? Finding out what?”

“You know as well as I do that this mission is beyond dangerous. The Protector’s plan is brilliant and daring, but risky. And as she said, we can’t make any mistakes.” Just as slowly as before, Roshan moved along the fabric in Andreia’s shirt, and suddenly it gave way. Roshan had unfastened the first clasp. “You’re leaving tonight, and I don’t know if I’ll ever see you again,” Roshan continued, and now her voice was husky with emotions, vibrating as if her insides were trembling in unison with Andreia’s.

“You’re reading my mind,” Andreia whispered. It was all she had thought of in her breaks from cramming the information she needed to concentrate on. Andreia looked up at Roshan, drinking in the image of the tall, stunning woman, so incredibly beautiful despite her obvious fatigue and distress. She also noticed something else in her eyes, something she’d glimpsed before, all those years ago, but never seen as fully exposed as now.

“I’m worried. It was clever of you to ask if you could borrow a derma fuser and claim mixed heritage as a problem. I think they all bought it. I know that Commander D’Artansis will use their derma fuser to make you look like a real Gantharian, but it’s still only superficial. Your physical strength doesn’t even come close to ours.” Roshan’s voice sank to a low, husky murmur. “And you’re so small. I mean, I know you’re strong, but you seem fragile.”

“I wasn’t fragile when I took out that OECS officer who nearly got to you in the forest.” Andreia tried a smile. “And trust me, I’m not the shy, awkward kid you used to know. I can handle myself.”

“I know all this!” Roshan said with a growl. “I know it. But to me, you’re small, you’re vulnerable, and you’re going straight into enemy territory. You’ll allow
them
to imprison you.”

“We’ll be able to talk over the earpieces that the Protector and the admiral brought. They’re even more advanced than our latest equipment.” Andreia jerked and looked down. Her shirt was now open to her waist, and her white lace-linen camisole wasn’t opaque enough to cover her entirely.

“I know that too.” Roshan’s words came out slowly, as if the sight of Andreia made her mind come to a full stop. “Gods, Andreia…” She pushed the top of the black coveralls off Andreia’s shoulders and left it around her elbows, making it impossible for Andreia to move her arms.

“Ro, please. You can’t just—”

“I can. I have to.” Despite the harsh words, spoken with obvious pain, there was nothing harsh or painful in the way Roshan caressed up and down Andreia’s arms. “You’re like pure Cormanian silk. And you smell so good.” Lowering her head, Roshan kissed Andreia’s forehead, brushed her lips along her cheek, avoiding her lips, and found the pulse point on her neck.

Andreia moaned and tried again to move her arms. If she had first intended to push Roshan away, now she wanted the opposite: to wrap her arms around Roshan’s neck and cling to this amazing feeling of being so utterly alive.
Oh, Gods, she’s making me want her so much. How can she do that with one glance, one touch?

“I want to touch you too.” Andreia whimpered the words against Roshan’s cheek. When at first she didn’t seem to respond, Andreia did what she could to calm her own rampaging emotions by placing kisses on the part of Roshan’s face she could reach.

“Don’t touch me.” More pain. “If you touch me…” Roshan quickly cupped Andreia’s face, forestalling any more kisses. “If you kiss me, you may be in for more than you’re ready for.”

“No, I don’t think so,” Andreia said. “I think we’ve been ready for a long time.” Memories of heated looks and lingering touches flickered through her mind. Andreia’s legs trembled, and her blood seemed to rush toward her lower abdomen. She had never been this sexually aroused before, not even close. Now that she was, she wasn’t certain how to act. Assuming Roshan was the more experienced of the two, she waited while smoldering inside.

“Ready for this?” Roshan cupped a hand over Andreia’s left breast, holding it gently. “Ready for me to touch you like this?” She slid her other hand around Andreia’s back and firmly grabbed hold of her bottom. Pressing Andreia up against the wall of the semidark communication room, Roshan parted Andreia’s lips and explored her mouth thoroughly.

It was more than Andreia could ever have expected. She’d been kissed before, but never in this all-consuming way. Their tongues intertwined and caressed each other, over and over, and Andreia forgot to breathe, as if oxygen was no longer necessary.

Sweat ran down between Andreia’s breasts and along her back. She yanked her arms free of their constraints and flung them around Roshan’s neck. Pulling Roshan closer, she instinctively raised one leg and hooked it around Roshan’s thigh.

Groaning and trembling all over, Roshan slipped her hand around Andreia’s thigh and pulled it up. Andreia hooked it around Roshan’s hip.

“If we had time and a better place than this bloody communication room, I’d show you—” Greedy, passionate kisses revealed exactly what Roshan had in mind.

Opening her mouth, Andreia allowed the heat of her desire to spread through her veins. She filled her hands with the fabric of Roshan’s coveralls and tugged at it. The way Roshan tasted, the way she smelled all contributed to Andreia’s rapid loss of control. She knew she wouldn’t see Roshan for a while, and a small voice inside her head asked, “
What if I
never
see her again?”
Desperate for the sensations Roshan created with her mouth and hands, Andreia grabbed hold of Roshan’s left hand and placed it on one of her breasts. “Touch me. Gods, Ro, you have to touch me,” she whimpered. “I’m burning up.”

“Yes, you are.” Roshan cupped Andreia’s breast with far more tenderness than her voice relayed. Gently, she moved her hand in small circles, and Andreia moaned when her nipple puckered almost painfully.

“You’re so beautiful. You were cute when we were younger, and you’re stunning now,” Roshan said. “If I could have my way, I’d push everything off this desk and lay your naked body on it. I’d delve into every part of you to make up for all those years when I hated you.”