Seduced by Two Warriors (8 page)

Chapter
Eight

Rune
smiled at Gia, strapped into one of the extra chairs inside the spacecraft
they’d borrowed from Cortez, Cord’s cousin. Cortez was a Regum and had more
money than all of them put together. When he heard they wanted to visit Addo,
he’d lent them this craft. Rune and Arlo manned the controls, but any of the
men on board could fly it.

Gia
had moved her stuff into their leased condo Wednesday after work. They’d
insisted she have the spare bedroom as her own, in case she ever felt she needed
space, but that night they’d all slept in Rune’s bed after making love to Gia
again.

Would
he ever get enough of this woman? He’d waited his entire adult life for someone
like her, and those longings had only intensified once he’d spent time with
Vaughn, River, and Marianne before taking this new job with Thane. Watching the
three of them had brought home how empty and lonely his life actually was.

Sure,
he had his work now to keep him busy. Losing the freight business had taken an
emotional and financial toll on him and Thane alike, but they were far from
destitute. In matters of the heart, however, they were pathetic. And neither
man had ever had much of a sex life. But all that had changed now. At least, he
hoped it had changed, and not only short-term.

They
cleared Sera airspace and then were given permission to land on Addo. It
wouldn’t take more than half an hour to reach the planet. He relaxed and gazed
over at Gia once more. She and Fallon were talking like old friends, and he
smiled as he watched them.

This
had been the best thing for Gia. Coming to their department and being able to
work with another Earth woman. Fallon may not have gone through what Gia had,
but she’d gone through enough to understand what it felt like to be a prisoner.
She knew her planet had been invaded, and she knew it was practically
uninhabitable now, unless the people left on it banded together and figured out
how to stop the Tyranns.

But
they couldn’t do that. They had no resources left, and more than eighty percent
of their population, if the figures the Ministry received were correct, had
been taken already. Not only did the Regum and Addonians need to stop the
Tyranns, but they had to find a way to help the people left on Earth rebuild
their lives once more. It was more than they owed all of them for allowing the
Tyranns to become as powerful as they had.

Rune
watched Gia and Fallon talking, and a violent shiver ran down his spine. What
if that did happen? What if this mission really worked, and the Tyranns were
annihilated? And what if the Regum and Addonians then banded together and
helped the people of Earth rebuild their planet?

They
certainly had the capability to do it. To pull off the mission they’d
formulated together. The question was in the execution, not the planning. The
rumors he and Thane had mentioned to her on Wednesday were more than mere
rumors. They were fact. The plans had already been set in motion.

After
she had moved her things in, Rune and Thane had talked while she set up her
bedroom. They had decided to let Vaughn and River tell her everything about the
mission since those two, along with Jakara, had been in instrumental in putting
it together. They didn’t want her to worry until there was something to worry
about. She’d never asked again about the rumors, so they’d let it go.

By
the time Fallon, Cord, and Arlo had returned from their meeting Wednesday
afternoon, no more than half an hour after their sexy interlude with Gia, Gia’s
focus had been on moving out of her apartment. But now, once they reached Addo,
this visit would allow them to bring up the subject of the mission with her.
She needed to know this was going to happen. It would give her closure and
peace. At least, he hoped it would.

But
the thought that sent nasty shivers down Rune’s spine wasn’t Gia’s reaction to
the upcoming combined mission of the Regum and Addonians to rid their world of
the Tyranns once and for all. It was the lingering question of whether she’d
want to return to her planet and help her people rebuild it. It was her home,
after all. It always would be. And her introduction to this solar system hadn’t
exactly been welcoming. Why would she want to stay here if given a choice to go
back to Earth instead?

Sure,
they’d given her a respite from her horrible memories. Rune was sure she even
cared for them. He could see it in her eyes and feel it in her touch. But this
wasn’t where she saw herself living out her days. How could it be? They were
aliens to her and always would be. To hope for more than a few precious weeks
or
months with her was
a fool’s dream.

She
didn’t belong to them. As much as he and Thane wished she could, Rune knew she
never would. Not really.

****

Thane
held Gia’s hand as the six made their way in a land craft toward the Great
Western Ocean. “We’re close to the quarters where Rune and I spent most of our
time until two weeks ago. It’s part of the compound that used to house Tyrann
warriors and their space and land crafts, until the Addonians took over the
bases on this planet and forced the Tyranns back to Voyeur Moon.”

“Do
you miss working there?
At the compound?”

He
shook his head. “We haven’t really stopped working for Jakara. We’re only in
the Ministry as consultants.” Everything would change soon. They were going to
get the official explanation and plans from Jakara, Vaughn, and River. And then
Gia would know, too. But for now, he wanted time with her before she worried
over this mission.

“I
mean do you miss being on Addo?”

He
smiled. “We’ll be back one day. Sera
isn’t
home
anymore.”

She
narrowed her eyes.
“Such a cryptic remark.”

He
pulled her close and gave her a tight hug. “Relax. Enjoy the scenery. Isn’t it
pretty here?
So lush and green.”

She
sighed, and he followed her glance out the window at the forests in the
distance, and the flowering bushes lining the roadway. “It is very pretty. And
a bit warmer than Sera was.”

“It
will be cooler near the ocean. Wait until you see this house. It’s almost as
large as some of the palaces the highest orders of Regum live in on Sera.”

“I
can’t wait to meet Vaughn, River, and Marianne.”

He
gave her another squeeze. “Jakara and Callie live there, too. And they’re all
very excited to meet you, too.”

Her
eyes widened.
“Another Earth woman?
I didn’t realize
I’d be meeting Callie, too.”

Fallon
turned in her seat. “I know, right? Now there will be three of us to talk to
about things only we can understand.”

“Five,
actually,” said Thane. “Marianne’s aunt and uncle live there, too.”

While
Fallon and Gia reminisced, Thane hoped Gia would be just as excited to spend
time with them when she learned that he and Rune would likely be going along on
this mission. It was their hope that Fallon, Gia, and Callie would stay
together until the mission was over. He didn’t want Gia to return to Sera and
stay in their condo alone. He didn’t think she’d be comfortable doing that.

They
had encouraged her not to break her lease on the apartment for a reason, even
though she told them she didn’t want to keep it. If she didn’t want to stay in
their condo with Fallon and Callie, she’d at least have her apartment to return
to.

They’d
known this was coming, and wanted to make sure she had a place to live until
they could return to her one day. Because Thane knew they would return. He only
hoped Gia realized that, too.

She’s not yours to keep.

The
thought popped into his head, dark and foreboding.
Fuck that.
He pushed it away. She was his for now. That would have
to do. Whether she stayed on Sera and worked at the Ministry, or came to Addo
with him and Rune one day when they returned wasn’t his decision to make. It
was hers.

But
he wasn’t a fool. One of the key points of this mission was to help Earth
rebuild their planet. That was her home. Of course she’d want to return there
one day. He couldn’t pin his hopes on anything else. This was an interlude, nothing
more.
A sexy, wonderful, heart-stopping, joy-filled
interlude, but a temporary one, just the same.
This wasn’t permanent,
and he had to remember that or he’d lose his mind.

She
would never truly belong to him and Rune. He had to accept that, enjoy the time
he had with her, and then figure out a way to forget her one day.

****

Gia
gasped as the ocean came into view around the next curve in the road. It wasn’t
the size of it that took her breath away. She’d grown up in Boston, and the
sight of the Massachusetts Bay and the Atlantic Ocean beyond it was nothing
new. But she hadn’t seen such a large expanse of water in two years, and the
memories evoked by the sight of lazy waves crashing onto a sandy beach made her
heart ache. She put a hand on her chest as they merged onto an elevated road
that passed next to the water. “It’s breathtaking.”

“Are
you okay?” asked Rune, gently.

“Yes.
Just … I haven’t seen an ocean in so long.”

“Does
it look like home?”

She
smiled. “The beach is a heck of a lot cleaner, but yes. It looks the same.”

“They
live close by. We can walk along the beach next to their home, if you’d like.”

She
gazed into Rune’s eyes. “I would love that. Thank you.”

“You
won’t be afraid of the expanse?”

She
shook her head. “No. The one place I could never feel fear is near the water.”
Or any place with you two
. The thought
popped into her mind, unbidden, making her
pause
for a
few seconds. Did she really believe that? She hadn’t acted that way.

Even
after moving in with them, she’d only gone outside if they were with her, and
then only for short periods of time. And she hadn’t yet ventured into the
courtyard when all their neighbors were around.

They
hadn’t pushed her on the issue, but she knew they loved being outdoors and were
used to spending as little time as possible inside, especially at home. The
fact that they were willing to forego that for her comfort level should have
made her heart sing with joy, but right now it only made her sad.

They’d
changed their lives for her. Why? It wasn’t for sex. Well, it might be, but she
didn’t believe they were that shallow. They’d asked her to move in with them.
They had turned their day-to-day lives upside down once again, and this time it
hadn’t been for a temporary job. They’d done it because they now wanted her
with them all the time.

So,
if they were only living with her so they could have sex whenever they wanted
to, or at least more often than they could if she’d still been living in her
apartment, they wouldn’t have stayed indoors when she wanted to. Or come inside
when it was obvious she’d reached her comfort level. They both constantly
watched her and gauged whether she needed anything, or looked apprehensive. Men
who only wanted sex didn’t do any of those things.

Her
thoughts were cut short as the home came into view, and Gia gasped one more
time. They hadn’t been kidding about it looking like a palace. It was built one
story off the sand, the way homes along the Atlantic shore in the Carolinas
were, and she wondered whether this area was prone to hurricanes. She’d have to
remember to ask them.

The
columns underneath the house were thick—at least four feet in diameter. The
home was covered in clapboard siding, or what looked like it, at any rate. Most
of the homes on Sera were made from materials similar to brick or stucco. As
they drew closer, she realized the clapboards were actually made of something
more durable, like a plastic derivative or even metal of some kind. They had
been painted or stained to give them a rugged appearance.

Soaring
windows and interesting angles dominated the design, and there were so many balconies
she lost count. The roof was made of the same tiles as most homes she’d seen on
Sera were.

“What
do you think?” asked Thane, his voice as proud as if he’d designed the home
himself.

“It’s
amazing.”

“Wait
until you see the inside.”

“Did
you two live here?”

He
shook his head. “No, but we visited a few times before taking the job on Sera.”

They
parked outside the home, next to other land crafts, and before the six could
disembark, a woman with dark brown hair and blue eyes came running out,
shouting, “They’re here! They’re here!”

Gia
loved her on sight. She reminded her of her friend, Becky, who was always
running everywhere and was enthusiastic about everything.

Gia
briefly wondered where Becky was now, but didn’t have time to dwell on it
because the woman she guessed must be Marianne gave her and Fallon huge bear
hugs that nearly took Gia’s
breath
away.

“Oh
my God, wait until Callie gets outside. She’s going to be so excited! Where are
you two from? Vaughn and River didn’t know, and Jakara is always too busy to
talk about anything. I’m from Fox Chapel, just outside of Pittsburgh. Have you
heard of it? And Callie is from Castine, Maine.”