Treyjon: Star Guardians, Book 2 Read online

  “I reported the details of what happened on our mission to Headquarters, the same as I always do. Someone must have thought well of your initiative in ferreting out a plan to kidnap women, and then in volunteering to infiltrate the slaver ship.”

  “But we’re not even letting them go home. How much could Headquarters care about them? And what I did?”

  “Headquarters isn’t the one that’s decided they can’t go home.”

  “What’s going on?” Juanita asked, trying to catch Orion’s eye.

  “I’ve been invited to become a Star Guardian,” Orion said, sounding more puzzled than pleased. “I… don’t know what to say.”

  “That’s a rarity,” Sagitta murmured.

  Orion ignored him and looked into Juanita’s eyes.

  “It’s what you always wanted,” she said softly, her own expression going bleak.

  Angela frowned at them. Did this mean Orion would no longer consider going against his government to take them home? How could one break the law when one had just been made a law enforcer?

  “It’s what I used to want,” Orion said, though he didn’t sound entirely convinced. He gazed down at the message again, a hint of wonder entering his eyes. “To do my training on your ship? Zeus’s spit, do I have to call you sir?”

  “Every time you see me.” One corner of Sagitta’s mouth quirked up.

  Angela thought it was the closest she’d seen of a smile from him.

  “Well, I can’t do it, anyway.” Orion sighed, lowered his wrist, and lifted his chin as he met his brother’s eyes. “I’m taking them home.”

  Juanita stirred. Was that supposed to have been a secret from Sagitta?

  “Actually, we all are,” Sagitta said.

  “What?” a dozen people asked, including Orion.

  Orion’s brow furrowed deeply, and he added, “You said they ordered you to get ready to hand the women over tomorrow, that they’ll be taken for training and integration into our society here on Dethocoles.”

  “That’s what they ordered, yes. I am disobeying orders.” Sagitta looked across the group, briefly meeting their eyes. “We’re taking you home.”

  “You’re defying orders?” Orion looked like he would fall over at any second.

  “Yes. Say as little as possible to the rest of the men. The less they know, the better. They’ll simply be taking orders from me, as usual. If they don’t know that I’m not under orders from Headquarters, the less likely they are to get into trouble later. For not reporting me.” His bleak expression returned. “This is my choice, and I’ll be responsible for the repercussions.”

  Sagitta nodded toward Angela and the others, then turned and headed for the door.

  Orion gaped after him. “They’re not going to let this slide just because you’re a war hero, Sage. As soon as we lift off without dropping them off, there’s going to be trouble.”

  “I expect it,” Sagitta said so softly Angela almost missed it.

  Tala gazed after him, her expression unreadable.

  Nobody else said anything. What was there to say? They were going home.

  Angela should have been ecstatic—many of the other women were starting to chatter excitedly—but a sick feeling settled in her stomach. If they were going home as criminals, or at least personae non gratae, in the eyes of the Confederation government, she wouldn’t have any access to the rest of the galaxy once the Star Guardians dropped them off and returned to their own people. She wouldn’t have any access to Treyjon. But what was the alternative? To stay here with him and never see her family again? Would that even be allowed?

  “I have to talk to Treyjon,” Angela said, standing up.

  She didn’t think anyone heard her—everyone was burbling about going back home, everyone except Juanita who was moving away with Orion, holding his hand. But Tala looked over at her.

  “He’s in sickbay. His injuries were mostly healed when I left him. The medical technology here is amazing.” She sounded so wistful.

  Maybe Angela wasn’t the only one who would regret going home.

  15

  Treyjon woke from a doze, the lights in sickbay dimmed, leaving him uncertain as to whether it was night or day. His logostec, daggers, stunner, and belt lay on a table nearby, but he wasn’t sure if he wanted to make the effort to get out of bed and dig through the pile just to check the time. His clothes and boots were stacked next to the rest of the items, and he vaguely remembered undressing when he’d come into sickbay and being helped into soft gym pants. He’d been drugged by then, thankfully, and had been happy to let Dr. Tala guide him to a bed.

  He wondered where she’d gone. To bed? One of the medical robots stood dormant in a corner, but he was otherwise alone in the room. He’d woken up alone for most of his adult life, so it shouldn’t have bothered him, but he found himself wishing that Angela were there.

  He took a couple of experimental deep breaths. His ribs felt a little tight and sore, but the sharp stabs of pain from earlier were gone. His shoulder, too, no longer ached, and he found he could move it in a circle without more than a faint twinge. Nanobots were probably still sailing around in his bloodstream, doing their work, but he felt better than he’d expected to, given the beating he’d taken. He made a note to himself not to pick fights with Zi’i again, not grappling matches, anyway. Firing at them with a deadly weapon and from a distance was far preferable.

  The door slid open, and he lowered his chin to his chest to peer over his toes. He expected Tala, but Angela walked in, and he grinned with delight. His wishes had been fulfilled. She was a much more appealing visitor than the rigid doctor.

  When Angela saw his eyes open, she rushed to his side. Before Treyjon could say a word, she flung her arms around him, almost lying atop him in her eagerness to hug him and press her cheek to his. Soft breasts molded to his chest through her dress, and he inhaled that floral scent of hers.

  His groin stirred, and he rolled his eyes at himself. Of course that was working fine.

  “Is everything all right?” Treyjon asked, growing a little concerned as the tight hug continued on. That concern increased when moisture touched his cheek. Her tears. He brought an arm up and wrapped it around her waist. “What is it?”

  “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be squishing you.” Angela started to push herself to her feet, but he didn’t let her go.

  “Yes, you should. I want all of you on top of me. Squishing me.” He lifted his other hand to cup her cheek, rubbing his thumb over one of the tears rolling down it. Another tear glistened in her lashes.

  “Is that allowed? Squishing an invalid lying in the hospital?”

  “Invalid? Come here.” He pushed himself up to one elbow, so he could get a better grip and pull her off her feet and fully atop him. “I’ll show you just how valid I am.”

  She didn’t protest the manhandling and smiled through her tears. “Your penis is poking me.”

  “It likes to do that. Do you mind?”

  “No, it’s getting me a little excited.”

  “That would excite me… if you weren’t crying.”

  Her face started to crumple, but she visibly tried to straighten it. She swallowed. “The captain is taking us home.”

  “That is bad news,” Treyjon joked, but he also frowned, confused. Granted, he was out of the loop after being in sickbay all day, but what could have happened to elicit this negative response to what should have been good news? It sounded like Sagitta had found some way to sway the archons in the end.

  “He’s not supposed to.”

  Treyjon blinked a few times, still confused, until the words sank in. “He’s going to disobey orders?”

  Angela nodded.

  “Huh, I didn’t know he could do that. He’s rigidly loyal. Rigidly obedient. Rigidly rule-following. Basically, he’s rigid all over.”

  “I wasn’t supposed to tell you. He told Orion not to tell any of the crew, so they won’t be put into a compromising position. As far as they know, he’ll be fo
llowing orders, and they’ll be following him, as usual.”

  “That sounds like him, even if the rule-breaking doesn’t. Being all noble and taking the blame.”

  “His people are a lot like him, aren’t they?” Angela raised her eyebrows pointedly.

  Oh, right. He’d tried to take the blame for those deaths. Well, he was the svenkar trainer, not Angela. It would be completely wrong for her to be blamed for any of what happened.

  The tear in her lashes fell, plopping onto his thumb. He rubbed her back through her dress, wanting to comfort her, to make the tears dry up.

  “The captain is old enough to make his own choices,” Treyjon said. “It might not be easy sailing to get you home…” He decided not to mention that the government wouldn’t be pleased and would likely send ships after them immediately, both to ensure their will was followed and to make a point, that even Star Guardian captains and war heroes weren’t allowed to disobey orders without repercussions. “But you don’t have to worry about our politics. Your people won’t be held to blame.”

  “But we’ll be dropped off, and then your ship will leave forever, won’t it?”

  “I’m not sure.” Treyjon considered the words he’d overheard, the archons’ belief that not only was Gaia not ready to join the Confederation, but the fear that, if they were to learn of the existence of humans outside their solar system, Gaia might become unwelcome competition. It seemed entirely possible that the archons would not only decide to not make contact again but might also destroy the gate leading to Gaia’s solar system. In fact, now that he was aware of Nebula Won’s plan, that seemed an incredibly likely scenario. Destroying the gate would keep slavers, Zi’i, and other ill-wishers from taking advantage of the planet, and it would also ensure that a long, long time would pass before the Gaians found a way to connect to the rest of the galaxy. “Probably,” he amended reluctantly.

  Angela nodded. She’d known the truth before he had.

  “So I have to choose,” she said softly. “Between you and my family and my entire life back on Earth.”

  Treyjon wanted to say that wasn’t so, but he was afraid it would be a lie. She wouldn’t appreciate a lie when she already knew the truth.

  “I’ll understand if you choose them.” He kept rubbing her back, wishing he had a better answer. “But if for some crazy reason, you think you’d like to stay here with me, I’d love to have an assistant svenkar trainer. I think these dogs you’ve spoken of are too simple and easy for you. You need something that challenges you.”

  “An assistant trainer? Is that all you want?”

  “Given that you’re lying on me and some of my, ah, protruding parts, you should know exactly what I want.”

  “Parts? Plural?” Her eyebrows rose. “Do you have a lot of things that protrude?”

  “Well, maybe just one. Oh, and my nose. It’s kind of a big one, don’t you think?”

  “No, it’s nice.” She smiled and lowered her mouth to kiss it.

  Blood rushed to his other protrusion, and his arm tightened around her.

  He lifted his face upward, so he could shift her lips to a much more preferable place, his own. She made the shift agreeably, returning his kiss fully. He felt her passion in the way her lips touched his, her desire for him, but also her sadness. He didn’t want her to be sad, but he didn’t know how to change that.

  She pulled back just enough to look into his eyes. “It’ll take several days to get back home, won’t it?”

  “Even if things go perfectly, yes.” Treyjon didn’t point out how unlikely it was that things would go perfectly. His lower protrusion was warning him not to kill the mood.

  “Can we hang out in your cabin and have sex the whole way?”

  “I can’t think of a single reason to object to that. Except that we’d need to feed the svenkars. And your female may miss you if you don’t come by to work with her a few times.”

  Sadness crept into Angela’s eyes again. “She won’t be able to come with me back to Earth, either. My people wouldn’t understand. They would shoot her. Or worse, want to study her like some lab rat.”

  Treyjon wanted to punch himself for the thoughtless words. Why had he reminded her about her choice again? Especially when things had been going in a direction that all of his protrusions had been excited about.

  “She would object to being a lab rat,” he said softly. “I’ll take good care of her.”

  “Who’s going to take care of you?”

  He snorted softly at the idea that he needed a caretaker. A keeper, maybe. “The captain takes care of all of us, as needed.”

  “Who’s going to take care of him?”

  A good question, since he was about to be labeled a criminal.

  “I’m sorry,” Angela whispered. “I shouldn’t be talking about all this sad stuff when I have you right where I’ve wanted you since I met you.”

  “You’ve wanted me on a sickbay bed?”

  “Just a bed. Under me.” She returned her lips to his and slipped her tongue into his mouth, tasting him deeply.

  He stroked her tongue with his and slid his hands down to cup her ass. He had no problem whatsoever with letting her be on top of him, so long as he could be in her.

  She drew back again, and he protested with a nip of her lower lip.

  “Would you consider coming to my world?” she asked.

  “Yes,” he said, not taking any time to think about the question. After a couple of seconds considering it, he realized it was true. He would miss training the svenkars, but he hadn’t been home to see his family in years and didn’t miss much about the savage, nomadic life he’d grown up in. Whenever he did visit his kin, they were quick to let him know how much he’d changed since he embraced the ways of technology and the Confederation. He’d felt like a stranger there for a long time and had always known he would start a family elsewhere if he found someone. At least Gaia, from what he’d seen of the women’s handheld computers, wasn’t too backward. He was sure he could find something to train there.

  “You would?” Angela sounded completely stunned.

  “Was that not a serious offer? I realize we haven’t known each other for long, and I haven’t yet had a chance to demonstrate my sexual prowess and gift for pleasuring women.”

  “No! I mean, yes. Yes, it was serious. I just didn’t think you would accept.” She touched the side of his face in wonder.

  He almost pointed out that his life here would probably be in a shambles once the government caught up with the captain, but he didn’t want her to think that was the only reason he’d blurted that easy yes. He wanted to be with her, with the first woman he’d met who not only liked svenkars but had a talent for working with them. His cock stiffened just thinking about the way she’d stood in the middle of the space base, correcting Lulu and scratching her chin.

  “Then you seriously underestimate your allure.” He waggled his eyebrows at her and gave her ass a pat.

  “I…” Maybe at a loss for words, she finished the sentence with a kiss, one hungry and full of desire. This time, the sadness didn’t seem to be there, though there were other emotions, ones he couldn’t name but that he sensed in the way she caressed his face and moved her mouth against his.

  He was breathless the next time she pulled back and was glad she didn’t go far.

  “Sexual prowess and a gift for pleasuring women?” she asked, her eyebrows moving this time.

  He smiled. “Allow me to show you.”

  “Gladly.”

  • • • • •

  He wanted to go home with her!

  Angela kissed Treyjon again while she explored his face, his shoulders, and his muscular torso with her fingers. She kept thinking she should be gentle, in case he was still in pain from his injuries, but her hands had trouble complying. She’d wanted to do this for days, almost since she’d first seen him. Then, she’d just thought he had a hot, sexy body. Now, she knew he was an incredible man, and she wanted him even more.


  And she was glad that he wanted her. More than that, he was willing to leave everything he knew to come back to Earth with her. She grinned as she kissed him, thinking that he’d make an even better bounty-hunting reality show star than Juanita’s Orion. Though it would be all right if they starred in something together.

  Treyjon shifted under her, as if he wanted to change positions and pin her underneath him, but he must have remembered that she’d dreamed of being on top. He settled for adjusting his grip, one hand cupping her ass as the other moved up her back, kneading her through her dress. It felt delicious, and she hadn’t been joking about being excited by his obvious desire to be with her. His cock pressed against the inside of her thigh, hard and eager through his pants, her dress, and the blanket atop him. There were far too many layers between them, she decided and shifted to shove the blanket aside.

  A cool draft whispered across her back, and she realized he’d found her zipper and slipped it down. She hadn’t even noticed. He had deft hands. She grinned again.

  He slid her dress down over her shoulders, and she thought of the last time he’d had his hands on her, the way he’d brought her to ecstasy without even removing her clothes. She wriggled against him, remembering his strong fingers boldly stroking her most sensitive spots.

  Now, those fingers made short work of her bra, dropping it to the floor alongside the blanket. She didn’t take her lips from his, but at his gentle prodding, she lifted herself enough for him to access her bare breasts. They hadn’t been able to do this before, and she relished his touch, the way he traced her contours, circling, teasing, finally brushing her nipples. He pinched one between his fingers, and she gasped at the sudden and intense pleasure.

  Soon, his hands lowered to her waist, and he lifted her slightly, easily. She didn’t want to stop kissing, but she found herself pausing to stare at the way veins ran down the corded muscle of his biceps, at the way his pecs tightened from holding her up. The hard ridges of his abs flexed as he lifted himself enough to bring his mouth to her breast, his tongue sliding across her nipple. At the same time, he shifted her legs apart, so that she straddled him, and his hard cock pressed against her hot, tight core.