Return to Dark Earth (12 page)

She raised a brow. “How’d they manage all
that?”

“In the years before the turnaround, an
enterprising group of leaders had focused on education for the
young. They had the presence of mind, and the patience, to invest
in a long-term solution. It was those children who grew up to lead
the country onto bigger and better things.”

“And it had a lot of history. I’ve seen many
ancient artifacts from there.”

He pulled a face. “Stolen them, you
mean.”

“You say stolen, I say acquired.”

He gave a wry laugh. “Yes, Mexico had a long
and fascinating history. From what astro-archeologists have pieced
together, it had a rich history of ancient cultures. Olmecs,
Mayans, Aztecs. We know so little about them, but there are records
of fantastic archeological sites, including great stone pyramids
and temples.”

“I don’t think we can fit a pyramid in the
cargo bay.”

Nik smiled. “They had plenty of smaller
artifacts, too. Gold, stone carvings, pottery. The Museum of
Anthropology in New Mexico City was built to transfer all the
artifacts from the old city’s museums. The collection was said to
be excellent. I suspect a lot of small stuff made it off-planet, as
we do see examples turn up from time to time.”

She tilted her head. “You’re after something
bigger?”

“There were lots of stone carvings. I’m
hoping the ones that were too big to transport easily might have
survived.”

“But you’re after something in
particular.”

Looked like she knew him quite well, too.
“Yes. The Sun Stone.”

“Sun Stone? I haven’t heard of it.”

“It was an intricately-carved Aztec calendar
stone. It was described as showing many different eras and how they
ended. It was supposed to predict the end of the world in the
Terran year 2012.”

“Guess they got the dates wrong,” Nera said.
“2012 was long before the Great Terran War.”

“Right. It was also said to be
three-and-a-half meters in diameter.”

“That’s big. And it’s made of solid
stone?”

“Yes. It would weigh several tons. We have
the tech to move it easily now, but back then, it would have been
harder for them to transport stuff like that without a lot of
organization and equipment.” And he really, really hoped that meant
it was still in place.

He nudged a bowl of Melarian chocolate
across the table. “Dessert time. Try this.”

She dipped her spoon in eagerly. “Mmm,
delicious.” She licked her spoon clean.

Nik’s cock had been hard throughout the
entire dinner, but now it reached new levels of painful. Damn.
Everything this woman did made him hard. “Nera—” His voice was a
little choked and he wasn’t sure what he wanted to say.

“You just have to ask, Niklas.”

“I want to know more about you.”

She stiffened a little, the tension so fine
he would have missed it, if he wasn’t so attuned to everything she
did.

“It isn’t an interesting story.” Nebula eyes
lifted. “Isn’t who I am now enough?”

“Everything in the past makes us who we are,
Nera. Pushing it into a box doesn’t make it any less true.”

She let out a breath. “You start. Tell me
about you.”

“I was the oldest brother. And I always
liked books. Zerzura is covered in ruins and legends of Terran
colonists.” He shrugged. “No surprise I wanted to study and become
an astro-archeologist.”

She took another spoonful of the chocolate.
“But it’s more than that, isn’t it?”

Yeah, it was. It was something that inspired
and fed his soul. “Have you found that thing, that thing that’s
necessary for your being? That just immersing yourself in it for a
little while makes you feel…rejuvenated? Like you can take on the
world.”

Her gaze was locked on his face. Then she
cleared her throat. “I don’t think so.”

“That’s what history and learning is for me.
It just…fills the well.”

“I was too busy surviving.”

His fingers curled around the edge of the
table. “Someone hurt you?”

“Not exactly.” She shoved a hand through her
hair. “I was trapped, expected to be anything and everything. To
survive, I had to find a way to preserve
me
—hell, I had to
find me first.” A wry smile. “I’m not sure I’ve even achieved that
yet.”

He swallowed. “Klavinoi.”

She shot to her feet, her chair tipping over
and crashing to the floor.

He rose slowly. “I’m sorry.”

When he took a step closer, she stepped
backward. Her face was pale.

He held out a hand. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t
pry. I just…dammit, I want to know everything about you. You tell
me when you’re ready. If you’re ever ready. Your secrets are yours,
Nera.”

“How…how do you know the name of that
planet?” She spat the words out.

“Xander.”

She lifted her chin, her mouth firming. “Of
course, that nosy cyborg. Fucking Centax Security can never keep
their noses out of other people’s business. And since your cousin
has him wrapped around her little finger, I assume she—and by blood
you—have access to whatever information you like.”

“He mentioned it in passing. You’re on their
radar. But he had no details. He mentioned Novalia as well.”

She waved a hand. “Novalia was information I
dispersed to muddy the waters.” She looked at him. “I never wanted
anyone to know my past.”

He swallowed. “I’m sorry. If that’s what you
want, that’s the way it will be.”

She shook her head. “You are a good man,
Niklas. I’ve run every search I could on you and your brothers.” A
tweak of her lips. “I know the name of your first pet, and the name
of the first girl you had sex with.”

His eyes widened. “Ah…well.”

Nera’s face turned serious. “You’re too good
for me. I’ve always known that.”

He grabbed her hand, entwining their
fingers. “Don’t say that.”

“I’m a bitch, Niklas.” A harsh laugh. “Even
your biocomputer doesn’t like me. I have no family, no friends…only
enemies. I’ve made my life like that, carefully cultivated it. I
care for no one, and no one cares for me.”

Her matter-of-fact tone made his chest hurt.
“I care about you.”

She tugged on her hand. “You’re stupid to do
that. You care, you get hurt. That’s how life works.”

He didn’t let her pull free. Instead, he
tugged her an inch closer. “Some hurts are worth it. Some pay you
back a hundred times over. I can’t tell you how many times my
brothers have made me angry, pissed me off, slammed me with truths
I didn’t want to hear, made me envious…but they’re worth it. Every
second of it.”

“Some hurts break you.”

“I won’t break you, Nera.” He reeled her in
closer, and slid his hand along her arm. So soft. Such a contrast
to the hard shell she showed the galaxy. He stared at her face. So
beautiful, yet she ignored it. She didn’t paint it, enhance it,
flaunt it or use it.

He cupped her cheek, his thumb running
across her sharp cheekbone. “This is one hell of a face.”

She shrugged. “Genetics. Luck, or perhaps a
sign I have a lot of e-creds.”

No, there was no way she’d paid for this
face. She would have preferred a nondescript face that let her
blend in over this beauty.

“There’s one hell of a woman under it, too.”
He squeezed her toned shoulder with his other hand. “Strong
muscles. Discipline and training. Brilliant mind. I’ve seen you
leap into a fight with the coolest look on your face. All that
attracts me. I’ve seen the hunts you’ve executed, and I love
watching you figure something out before me. It really turns me
on.”

“That hardly happens.” A quiet snort. “I let
you use that brain of yours and work it out first, then I just
steal it out from under you.”

A laugh escaped him. “That’s sexy, too.”

She cocked her head. “I know it’s made you
angry in the past.”

“No, that’s Dathan. It just made me brood
because I wanted to know more about you. I wanted to get closer to
you, but I didn’t know how.” He stepped in until they were
plastered against each other. “I didn’t know how to get past your
protective walls.” He pressed a finger to the pulse at her neck. It
was racing.

“You’re past them now,” she whispered. “So,
what are you going to do about it?”

He touched his mouth to hers but ruthlessly
controlled the desire pounding through him. He wanted to push her
to the floor, tear her clothes off and feast on every inch of
her.

He pulled back, touched her cheek again. “I
want to give you pleasure.”

Nera stayed very still. Pleasure her? She
hadn’t heard those words…ever. Sex for her was a quick, sweaty
ride—that she instigated and controlled—and a short pop of an
orgasm.

It had been a long time. Since
this…infatuation with Niklas had grown, she hadn’t wanted to hire a
pretty pleasure worker or pick up some young space jock at a space
station bar. And deeper in her past…well, sex had never been about
her pleasure.

She swallowed, hiding the unfamiliar nerves.
She
hated
being nervous. “What did you have in mind?”

“Just let me do the work.” He spun her, his
big body pressing up against her back.

God
. Her eyelids fluttered. The
sensation of him was… She could stay here for hours, absorbing him.
She let one hand rise up, touching his face.

“Uh-uh.” His hand circled her wrist.

“Don’t restrain me.” She hated that her
words sounded clipped.

His grip loosened instantly. “Put your hands
on the wall.”

She hesitated. She didn’t take orders from
anyone.

His lips nipped the back of her neck and she
arched into the touch. “It’s a request, Nera. I want you focused on
what you’re feeling, not me.”

She placed her palms against the wall. The
metal was cool under her skin, while Niklas’ body was burning hot
at her back.

“That’s it.” One of his hands slid around
her front, caressing her belly. “I’m amazed at how smooth your skin
is. It’s got me wondering how smooth it is on your belly, your
thighs…between your legs.”

She hissed out a breath. “So find out.”

“Patience.” He teased at the hem of her
shirt. Then he dipped his fingers beneath, brushing over her belly.
He made a humming noise.

Nera stared blindly at the wall. She always
imagined that when she and Niklas finally came together, it would
be an explosion. Wrestling, rolling, tearing at each other.

This…seduction was not what she’d expected.
Although knowing his steady patience for his work, maybe she should
have guessed he’d apply the same concentration to sex.

His teeth were at her earlobe, nipping and
tugging. That small touch shot through her, arrrowing between her
legs. She shifted restlessly.

The hand at her waist slid down over her
skirt. Then it ducked beneath the silky fabric, and her breath
hitched. Fingers trailed up her thigh.

“Such strength and beauty all rolled
together,” he murmured.

Those slightly callused fingers rubbed
circles on her inner thigh, moving higher and higher. Every muscle
in her stretched tight. She was always in control. She always
selected a partner and initiated sex. She was never seduced. Warmth
spread through her, flaring white-hot.

His fingers reached her underwear. He teased
at the silky edge, and his breathing rate increased, his chest
rising and falling against her back. It made something in her
loosen a fraction. She wasn’t alone. This was affecting him as much
as her. But how could simply touching her, pleasuring her, turn him
on so much?

His finger slid under the silk and all her
thoughts scattered.

He stroked through her folds and groaned. He
traced the tiny strip of hair above her sex, seemingly
fascinated.

“I…researched you. And the women you’d had
in the past,” she said breathlessly. He stroked again and her hips
moved into his touch. “You like a woman…well-groomed.”

“Nera.” He groaned again, his touch becoming
more forceful. “I should be angry at you, prying into my love
life.”

“There haven’t been many lately.”

He slid a finger inside her, his body
pushing hard against hers. Against her bottom, she felt the hard
prod of his cock. “No, there haven’t been any lately, have
there?”

All she could focus on was that thick finger
moving deep inside her. He pulled out, leaving her feeling empty.
Then two fingers sank back into her and she moaned.

“Holy stars, Nera, you are so tight.”

She couldn’t form any words. He kept those
clever fingers moving, pushing her higher.

Then his thumb brushed her clit and she
jerked hard with a moan.

“You like that?” He brushed again, his touch
firm. He flicked, pushed, learned what she liked from her cries and
movements.

Nera couldn’t take it anymore. She moved her
hands and clamped them on the outside of his strong thighs.

He didn’t say anything, so she just gripped
him, needing something to anchor her in the firestorm of sensation
crashing over her. She heard small cries echoing in the room and
realized they were coming from her.

Hot lips were at her ear, the side of her
jaw. “Come for me, Nera. Come on my hand and let me hear you.”

She was helpless to do anything but give him
what he wanted. One more hard caress of her clit and she exploded
like a supernova. She screamed…and it was Niklas’ name she called
out.

When she could think again, she was held up
by strong arms wrapped around her middle. His chin rested on her
hair and he surrounded her. Strong, solid Niklas. She let herself
sink back into him and enjoy the moment.

Then she became aware of the rock-hard
erection jabbing into her ass. She licked her lips. Oh, she really
wanted to explore him, learn what drove him crazy. She reached
back, and pressed her hands to the front of his trousers.