Page 72 of Salvation
“C’mon, Alex, just do it.”
“Cut it out, both of you,” the man snapped, “or I’ll take all of you out in one pass.”
Alex sighed. “All right. We do it together. Count of three. One…two….”
~*~
“…three.”
Nick turned and dove at Sakura, his weight carrying her backward. A slight twang and hiss of air followed by a grunt confirmed that Storo’s dart had found its target. The gully erupted with Anferthian war cries and gunfire.
In the distance a woman’s voice shouted in English, “Stand your ground!” It had to be Kelly, because it sounded nothing like Alex. He turned his head to see who was nearby, but there was no one. Alex was gone, Storo was gone. Only the dead guy with the barb bow dart in his temple was nearby. Shit, he was missing all the action. But there was no way he was taking Saku into the fray, and he couldn’t leave her here unprotected like a sitting duck. Talk about a no-win scenario.
If she’d just listened and stayed at the cube with Flora, but no. What had he been thinking, caving in so easily to her demands?
“Nick, you idiot, get off me. You could get shot.” Her hands pushed at his chest.
“Just stay down this time, Saku. This shouldn’t take long.” Already the sound of weapons fire had slowed. There was still a lot of shouting from the other side of the rock though, most of it Anferthian. That had taken less time than he’d expected.
“I am serious.” She wiggled, clearly trying to get out from under him.
There was only one way to keep her still. He clasped her head between his hands and caught her lips with his, slowly drawing her lower lip into his mouth. It seemed to work because she instantly stilled then opened her mouth, her tongue probing with blatant eagerness. He should be paying attention to what was happening around them, but damned if he could. Not with her body so soft under him or her sweet breath mingling with his. And certainly not with all his blood rushing to one particular body part. Again.
He thrust his tongue deep to explore every centimeter of her mouth. God, if only they were back at their cube, he would explore more than just her mouth. He’d peel off her clothes one piece at a time, kissing each bit of flesh as it was exposed until she had nothing on but her panties. Those he’d remove with his teeth, as he’d wanted to do for a while now. After he pulled them over her toes, he’d drop them on her belly and lower his head between her legs.
“Do it,” a feminine voice murmured.
Yes, he would. Then he’d….
The tail of his coat lifted and something frigid slid over his lower back. “Holy shit!” He hastily rolled off Sakura and scrambled to his feet, his hands trying to shake the snow from under his coat. “Goddammit, Storo.”
Booming laughter erupted, mixed with his sister’s snickers. He directed what he hoped was a threatening glare at both of them. “You two suck.”
He offered his hand to Saku, who was sitting up in the snow, and pulled her to her feet. The pink on her cheeks was probably not just from the cold. He slid his arm across her shoulders and she leaned into him.
“For you, I felt bad that you missed the action in order to protect our little blossom,” Storo grinned. “Now, not so much. Perhaps I misjudged where the true danger was for her.”
“Very funny. What happened?”
“A few injured dissenters,” Alex reported. “The only loss of life was in Kelly’s group. Four total. Kelly is alive, but not talking.”
“Haesi?”
Alex’s mouth flattened into a straight line and she shook her head. “I doubt she was ever on Matir anyway.”
That was disappointing. He glanced down at Saku. “The committee will want a full report, and we have a few things to discuss before they viscomm us.”
~*~
Two days later, Nick faced the viscomm wall from his seat next to Sakura at the conference room table. K’rona and Storo flanked them on each side. The rest of the committee had commed in from their various locations.
Sakura had given her report on the successful re-creation ofatolceto the committee, and they’d unanimously approved the immediate mass production of the contraceptive for the dissenters. Judging by the pleased expressions of the images on the wall, things in their little worlds had wrapped up nice and neat. Weren’t they all in for a surprise.
“Healer Bock, Disipula Yamata,” Administer Corvus beamed, “on behalf of the Matiran people and the members of this committee, I thank you for your diligent work in finding a resolution for this matter. This crisis has been averted. You are relieved of your duty to the dissenters, and are to report to the Collegium in three days to finish Disipula Yamata’s training.”
Here goes nothing. Nick leaned forward a fraction. There was no way to predict the committee’s response to their plan. “Administer Corvus, honored members of the committee, Disipula Yamata and I decline your generous offer. We choose to stay with the dissenters.”
The stunned silence lasted all of two heartbeats before Corvus said, “This is unacceptable. You are ordered to return immediately.”
