Chapter Seventeen.

Shadow handed Talon a fresh cup of tea before joining him on the steps. It took them just over nine hours to strip the meat from the eldorak and load it into the smoke house. She was grateful Talon was able to repair the small 'building' behind the house next door. Without refrigeration or even a cool room, any meat they didn't eat in a few days would spoil. This way they wouldn't need to hunt for food for months-if it took that long for Talon to complete his training.

She couldn't stop stealing glances at him. Gone was the lean body of a man who didn't eat on a regular basis and got very little exercise. His arms strained against the sleeves of his shirt and no amount of pulling would close that shirt above his pecs. Every shift of muscle had her mouth watering-and places south of her belly b.u.t.ton clenching in need. Last night was wonderful. Amazing. Unbelievable.

Stop! Just because it was the best s.e.x you ever had doesn't mean you have to sing his praises constantly. She NEVER slept with a client. It was totally against all of her self-imposed rules of conduct. The only solution was to put their relationship back on the trainer/trainee footing. She didn't even want to think about the possible consequences if she didn't. How to convince Talon that her decision was their best course of action was the biggest problem.

"Why so quiet, Blue?" Talon asked softly, frowning when she shifted away from his touch. His gut churned in denial. "Something you need to get off your chest?"

Pushing herself off the dusty porch, she focused on the sun rapidly disappearing behind the trees; the birds flitting from branch to branch in the bushes by the fence getting ready for the night; and the pair of kava hopping through the gra.s.s, their long ears twitching. Drawing a deep breath for courage, she turned to face him.

"Last night shouldn't have happened. It goes against every rule in the book."

His expression morphed from curious to hurt to anger.

Yes! Get angry. Get so f.u.c.kin' p.i.s.sed that you hate me. G.o.ds help me if you discover how my heart is breaking.

"Bulls.h.i.t." He tossed the mug of tea into the yard, scattering the birds in a flurry of indignant chirping. "And don't even think about making me do pushups for saying that. I gave you more than fifty last night and again this morning."

She fought the rush of desire his reminder created even as her heart wanted to scream I have no choice! The tears would come later, when she was alone in her cold bed.

"Where are you going?" She asked when he lurched up and jumped off the porch.

"Wherever the h.e.l.l I want."

Talon stormed into the gathering darkness. His new vision gave him the freedom to escape before her little speech made him any angrier. Her rejection was eating a hole in his chest.

Like h.e.l.l it shouldn't have happened. If she thinks she can hide behind some unwritten rules she is sadly mistaken. He didn't know where their relationship was going or if it would go anywhere beyond this island. Men don't think about s.h.i.t like future and commitment. He didn't know what he was supposed to feel.

What I do know is that I'm not ready to give her up. What kind of future does she think I'm planning? A husband and wife con game? Me waiting at home while she jumps around the galaxy looking for a fight? She's polishing my skills so I can track and kill Draagon. I probably won't live to brag about what I do to that b.a.s.t.a.r.d.

"Well, d.a.m.n. I just justified her decision."

With a disgusted huff, Talon plopped down under a tree. Leaning back against the rough bark, he stared across the wide expanse of the park. He could make out her silhouette moving between the window and the fire pit. She was either finishing up their dinner preparations or pacing the floor. When she stopped in front of the window for the second time in as many minutes, it hit him.

"Son of a...she's worried about me." He could finally draw a deep breath. Her brain may be telling her to throw him out of her bed but her body wasn't listening. He needed a strategy-a plan-but it had to be subtle. If she caught on to what he was doing...well, he didn't even want to think about what would happen.

The strident voice of conscience screaming warnings of expectations and heartache fell on deaf ears. As long as it was just s.e.x between consenting adults neither of them would count on a happy-ever-after nor suffer a broken heart. Talon shook away the eerie sensation of laughter. It was just the breeze rustling the leaves, not the G.o.ds setting him up for disaster.

"Face it, man." He groaned aloud. "You don't have a clue about how to stage a seduction."

Choices. It all came down to choices and the consequences they brought with them. He chose to dedicate his life to destroying Draagon and his evil empire. The consequences of that decision robbed him of any right to a normal life. There would be no loving wife, no children to carry on his name.

You made your choice and now you're complaining about the results? Get past it. Focus on that depraved piece of s.h.i.t and quit dreaming. You gave up the right to be anything more than you are right now-a half-blind con man who'd rather crawl into a bottle of strong alcohol than between the legs of a good woman.

Talon pushed to his feet, dusted the gra.s.s and leaves from the seat of his pants and started back. Back to the warmth of the fire pit. Back to the hot meal she had waiting for him. Back to Shadow. He slammed the door on his brain before it could put the next thought into words. Self-preservation demanded he not even think the phrase back home.

"Anything I can do to help?" He asked quietly from the doorway. She knew he was back because she watched him cross the central square.

"You can set the table. The roast will be done in about ten minutes."

"Smells really good in here." He wanted to slide his arms around her waist and pull her back against his chest. Instead, he gathered the dishes and silverware and arranged them on the small table. The pattern of small flowers on one of the plates caught his attention. Shadow's fascination with the remnants of his village was a treasured glimpse into a side of her he knew no one else ever saw. She wasn't as hard and ill-mannered as she claimed.

You deserve a man who could give you a complete set of dishes, Blue. Too bad for both of us but I can't be that man.

"Firewood looks a little low. Think I'll have time to bring in more before you're ready to serve dinner?" It wasn't much but he wanted-needed-to feel important to her even if it was for nothing more than filling a wood box.

"Take all the time you need. It won't hurt for the meat to stand for a few minutes. I'll get everything else on the table."

Shadow held her breath until she heard the door close behind Talon. "G.o.ds! I am in so much trouble!" Taking several deep, cleansing breaths, she willed her heart rate to slow. From the moment he started back toward the house, she'd fought to keep a lid on her emotions. She wanted...what exactly did she want? For things to go back to what they were yesterday? To finish this job and get back to her real life? The thoughts and emotions ricocheting around and around her brain were driving her crazy. Before she could sort through the jumble or to make sense of what was happening to her, she heard the door.

"Kill the lights and douse the fire. Hurry!"

"What? Why?" She instinctively followed his instructions. Talon didn't play games. If he felt there was danger, she believed him. After dumping the pot of hot water over the fire, the room plunged into darkness.

"A hover-boat just pulled into the harbor. This is a private island but it's well doc.u.mented that it's abandoned and no one comes here. Get the weapons and we'll see what they've got in mind."

"You actually sound happy about all this." She quickly gathered all the weapons she'd stored away since shortly after arriving on the island. When Talon pulled the bow from above the fire pit, she shook her head.

"That won't be very effective. I've got something better." With a quick look at Talon, she shrugged and pushed a b.u.t.ton on her belt buckle. A soft, golden ball of light formed about waist level and quickly spread up and out until it was about the size of a door. A small flash of white light temporarily blinded her. When she opened her eyes, the 'doorway' was open.

"What in the name of all the G.o.ds of the universe is that?" Talon demanded.

"Just a little something I brought back from a security job about five years back. There's a princess whose name I promised never to reveal who was very appreciative of my skills. I saved her from a forced marriage and she rewarded me with a dimensional storage locker."

"A what?"

"Think of it as an invisible closet. It's just in another dimension. Here." She handed him a wicked looking crossbow and a quiver of arrows before pulling out a rifle and small metal box.

"d.a.m.n. The scientists on that planet are beyond genius. What kind of weapon is that?"

Shadow knew exactly which weapon he was talking about. "It's a U.S. Marine sniper rifle and an ammo box. Another little souvenir from Earth."

She pushed the b.u.t.ton again and the closet disappeared. Flashing a grin at Talon, she picked up the rifle and began checking the moving parts. "The locker wasn't discovered in some laboratory. This little miracle is pure magic."

Shoving a double handful of bullets into her pocket she was ready to go. "Time to find out just who our uninvited guests are."

Talon was impressed-again-with the level of trust Shadow had in him. She never asked him how he knew there was a new craft in the harbor. She accepted his word and went, immediately, into action.

It took them about fifteen minutes to jog through the village. The rise that separated the village from the marina was just ahead and the voices he'd heard earlier were loud and distinct.

"This place ain't got nothin' worth stealin'." Voice one whined.

"It's got fresh water and maybe some game. We gotta have supplies before we go any further." Voice two was the obvious leader.

"Don' know why we had ta split up. Six is better odds for stayin' alive than two."

"And six is easier ta spot by the bounty hunters, dumba.s.s."

Voice one was closer to where Talon sat near the crest of the rise. It was too dark for their visitors to see beyond their torches but he could see just fine. Anyone could smell the stench of incarceration rolling off their bodies and hear the clang and rattle of the manacles on their ankles.

Escaped prisoners!

"When are the others gonna get here?" Voice one asked.

"Ain't n.o.body comin' here. I told ya this ain't nowhere near where we need to be. I saw the guards head after the others and we went this way. I ain't goin' back to prison. Now come on and let's find us a place to bed down for the night."

"I don'...."

Whatever he was going to say died on his lips when he saw Talon.

"Good evening, gentlemen. How may I a.s.sist you?" Talon pointed the loaded crossbow at voice two.

"Who the f.u.c.k are you?" Voice two demanded, brandishing a short piece of board he'd picked up on the beach.

"I own this island and I didn't invite you to visit. Now get back on your hover-boat and keep on going." He prayed they wouldn't push his ultimatum. The crossbow was c.o.c.ked and loaded but he only had one shot and two targets.

"We'll die out there without some supplies." Voice one had the most annoying whine.

"You'll die here for no reason other than you're trespa.s.sing." Talon hoped they kept sailing. He didn't want to kill them.

"Come on, b.u.t.ts. This ain't the only island around here."

They turned and headed back to the marina. Talon followed at a distance to make sure they left the island. As the hover-boat lifted up and pulled away from the beach, b.u.t.ts stood and flipped him the middle finger salute.

"You sleep real good tonight, a.s.shole!" He yelled. "Knowing you sent men ta their death!" A short bark of laughter floated across the water. "Or maybe we'll come back in time for breakfast!"

Chapter Eighteen.

"They'll be back." Talon watched the hover-boat pull farther and farther from the sh.o.r.e. He knew the minute Shadow walked up behind him.

"Without a doubt. They were dressed in prison uniforms. You know this island better than I do, any place more likely for their return than this one?"

Talon grinned and shook his head. "I was only twelve summers when I left here. Armed a.s.sault wasn't on my cla.s.s schedule back then."

"Yeah, but little boys all over the universe are basically the same. You dream of being heroes and winning epic battles. So I bet that somewhere around here is at least one special place-a command center-that every boy in the village knew, even as young as you were. It was the perfect place to defend your kingdom." She slung her rifle over her shoulder and started walking back to the village.

"Here," he slipped his torch into her free hand. "You don't want to trip and break your neck. At least, not until we save our little kingdom."

"You can be such an a.s.s...axel."

There was no longer any sting in her words. "Yeah, so I've been told." He laughed softly. "But I'm your axel." The darkness hid his grin when she snorted.

"I already told you I wasn't part of...uh, just academic studies. Let me think about this for a few minutes and maybe a memory or two will surface like it did with the game trails."

The house was in sight but Talon didn't recall a single memory of where the other boys played out their fantasies. It would have to be high ground and that eliminated everywhere on this side of the mountain. From what he recalled of his local history cla.s.ses, the far side of the mountain dropped straight into the sea. As far as he knew the only possible landing areas were along the marina.

"Dinner is stone cold." Shadow hung her rifle on a peg in the wall and started lighting the lanterns. "It won't take long to heat it up as soon as I get the fire pit going."

"Don't bother on my account." He was too preoccupied with surviving the next twenty-four hours to worry about a hot meal. "Call it field rations and serve it cold."

With a shrug of her shoulder, Shadow sliced off a thick chunk of the roast for each of them and added a plate of dried fruit to the table. "I figure those two will be back as soon as it gets light enough to see where they're going. In case I'm wrong, we shouldn't have a fire or use the lanterns."

"I agree. No sense hanging a sign above the door saying here we are, come attack us. I've pulled up every sc.r.a.p of memory I have about this place and I'm almost positive that the only place on the island they can bring a hover-boat is along the marina."

"Almost positive?" Shadow asked with a grin. "Guess that's the best intel we have to work with. There are about fifty buildings between there and here. Do we let them get into the village or take them out on the beach?"

Talon's chest swelled when he realized that she-a trained mercenary-trusted his opinion. Because I sobered up enough for the old me to resurface. I wonder if she knows she saved my life. That's a h.e.l.lava debt I owe that woman.

"We have better cover and more maneuverability here but I don't like the idea of them coming into the village. The tree line just inside the rise worked earlier. I vote we stay closer to the water. Why don't we work shifts, say two hours each. One of us can keep watch while the other gets some rest. Just before dawn, we spread out and find a good spot to welcome our new friends."

Shadow arched her back, rotated her head, and rolled her shoulders working the tension from her body. "Sounds good. We put in a hard day getting that eldorak butchered."

And I kept us up most of last night. She must have thought the same thing because that pale blue aura just spiked a little pink. "Get some sleep, Blue. I'll wake you in a couple of hours."

Shadow spotted the perfect location at the edge of the forest where two trees grew so close together that their limbs were practically woven together. There were several branches growing out toward the open waterline. She could lay her rifle along any one of them and be virtually invisible.

"Good choice, Blue." Talon whispered. "I can't see any trace of you and I watched you climb into that nest. I'm going closer to the water. See that over-turned boat about a hundred yards down the beach?"

"Yeah."

"There's another smaller skiff on the other side. I'll be between them."

"Stay out of my line of fire."

She couldn't shake that itchy feeling on the back of her neck. They were missing something vital-something that could get them killed. The sun was high enough that she could determine the color of anything not hidden in shadows. Way too late for their visitors to be making a surprise visit.

Talon waved to show her his location. Don't grin at me you f.u.c.kin' a.s.shole. I'm furious with you. He didn't wake her until shortly before sunrise. His only excuse-you were so tired that I just didn't have the heart to wake you. What a crock! Yes, she was tired but so was he. This was what she did for a living. In a war zone situation you learned to go to sleep quickly and wake up ready to pull your watch. Does he not trust me to carry my weight?

Maybe he's treating you like a woman and not just one of the troops. There were times when she really hated that annoying little voice.

Snipers were trained to remain motionless for hours-even days-waiting for the conditions to be right for their shot. Too bad she wasn't a trained sniper. She should have taken a trip into the bushes before climbing into the tree. Her bladder was screaming at her. The leaves that felt so soft and comfortable hours ago now had sharp little points p.r.i.c.king her through her shirt.

This is bulls.h.i.t! Those thugs aren't coming back. h.e.l.l, they probably drowned or sailed to another island. It's not going to be long before I have to break cover-or create a most unusual rain shower.