The final battle will be tomorrow. Many of you will never see the day after that, she thought grimly, her thoughts encompassing both the alliance’s forces as well as the Hoolas.
"Don't count the dead before they're gone," Kerven's voice said.
Paula turned quickly, seeing the captain standing behind her. Her Brion guards were walking away, giving them privacy.
"How did you know what I was thinking?" she asked, her voice solemn.#p#分页标题#e#
There had been rumors about Brions being able to read minds, but Paula knew it couldn’t be true. If it were, Kerven would have definitely used his powers sooner with her.
The captain came to stand by her side, overlooking the last preparations for the assault. No matter how hard she looked, Paula couldn't find even a grain of fear in his eyes. It figured. Brions were not worried about death.
"I heard your heartbeat match mine," Kerven said. "It's a good piece of wisdom, but even my kind can't always follow it. I never asked my general what he felt, although I imagine it's the same with him.
“Officers always have that look, that future-reaching sight. We are responsible for most choices, after all, even if every single warrior will forge his own path."
Paula didn't reply at once, simply looking at the man standing beside her. The captain seemed so very different from the man she'd met only a short while ago.
Then, he'd been full of the annoying bravado of his species. As she got to know him, Paula saw that there was more to him, so much more.
She wondered if she was a fool for denying herself the chance to get to the bottom of him.
But wouldn’t getting to the bottom of him mean that there would never be any discovery of anything else?
"Have no fear," Kerven told her then, ripping her out of her musings. "I will do as I promised. I could never disappoint or hurt you."
She wasn't sure what to say to that. He'd already hurt her once. She didn't think she could forget that so easily even if moment by moment, the truth of his words dawned on her. There really was no love in her heart for Terrans, at least not in the way that Brions stood as one.
She liked them, yes, felt pity for them when they hurt. She loved the planet itself.
Yet if she had to leave it all behind, Paula didn't think she'd be heartbroken. A little homesick, maybe.
A home that I willingly left a while ago.
"I trust you," she said. "When will the attack begin?"
"Soon," the captain said, a small smile on his lips. "Would you wish to rest until then? I can have one of the dropships be made into a bunk for you. No one else would be there, if you don't want my company."
She did. So very much. It was increasingly difficult to deny herself that.
"I don't believe I could sleep tonight," she said, trying to smile and banish the cold fear that had crept into her heart. “And I have a cot in one of the auxiliary tents,” she said vaguely.
Not once on Jumel had she feared for her own life. She still didn’t, not as much as she was afraid for Kerven. That fate or gods or whatever else ruled her destiny would see her turning the captain down and take him away from her as a punishment.
He was a powerful warrior, the equal of any in the galaxy, and the Hoolas were not the toughest opponents he'd faced, no doubt. Life had taught her, however, that even one mistake or a lucky shot by the enemy could end it all. Being the best didn't make one invincible.
There had been plenty of ‘invincible’ warriors cut open on her operating table.
Kerven was looking at her. Paula didn't know what he could read from her body language and the way her heart beat. She only saw him closing the distance between them, lifting her chin up gently and pressing a chaste kiss on her lips.
She didn't pull away. The thought of losing him was suddenly unbearable and every moment spent with the captain precious to her.
"If you will not sleep, would you care for my company while we wait?" he asked.
She nodded before she even got the chance to reconsider.
"I'd like that," Paula admitted.
The smile on his lips warmed her heart in a way she didn't think was possible. Altogether, there was no simple base lust on his gorgeous features, only genuine happiness.
The desire had raged between them with a burning heat. Now Paula had proof that the love the bond promised was there too, right in the captain's eyes as he offered her his arm. It was the strangest thing, to be courted on a battlefield.
Only that with Kerven, Paula barely noticed their surroundings. He had a way of making the world fall away, leaving only the two of them.
He led her to the dropship he'd arrived with. With the hatch open, they sat on the edge of it, hidden from sight on three sides by the hard, dark metal. Somehow, it reminded Paula of sitting on a porch on a late winter night when the world was swept into darkness.
The flashing lights of the construct machines and the distant fire meant to cover it were providing a real show for them. There they sat, removed from the world and unwelcome gazes, while a planet was being torn apart for the greater good. Paula's heart was beating in her chest, aching for more closeness, not knowing how to do that without literally asking for it.#p#分页标题#e#
It's not like we're at the movies so I could pretend to get scared. The weather isn't doing me any favors either. It's not that cold.
Her thoughts really had to be very loud, or Kerven really could read minds, since in the next moment Kerven leaned in for another kiss, pulling her against him. Paula melted into his embrace, forgetting about all the obstacles in their way in favor of kissing the man of her dreams until she ran out of air.
13
Paula
It was impossible to resist.
Kerven claimed her lips like he was drowning and her mouth was the only source of air in the world. His hands found their way into her hair, pulling at it gently to bring soft moans from her lips.
The captain pulled her into his lap, holding her so close it seemed to Paula that they were one. The hard metal of his armor pressed against her breasts, making her ache for his warmth. She wanted nothing more than to feel his skin against hers, to make love to him again and have no care in the world.
Down on Jumel, the rest of the world was harder to forget, as were Kerven's words. She pulled away from the kiss, looking at him seriously, searching for answers in his deep blue eyes. The captain barely gave her a moment, though. His hands were already clawing at her uniform, pulling it over her bare shoulders.
Paula moaned, letting her head fall back when the captain kissed her neck, sucking on her flesh to leave marks. She had no doubt he was doing just that, marking her, claiming her for his own. Only unlike before, she had no protest about that.
It felt good to be his and have him, if only for one night. There was still so much trouble in their way and from experience, Paula knew that issues like that didn't make a relationship stronger. They only served to tear the lovers apart.
Surely, not even the famed Brion bonds could triumph over everything life had in store for them.
Kerven pulled her back into a hard, demanding kiss. The whimpers that fell from her lips only urged him on, his hands ripping another uniform off her. Paula stopped him with a hand on his chest, shaking her head.
"If you think I'll walk out of your ship naked this time, you must be crazy," she told him breathlessly. "Haven't you heard of zippers? Or buttons? This has both."
The captain grinned, his ravenous eyes traveling over her body in his lap. When he lifted his fiery gaze back to her, Paula felt the lust flare to life within her. Her pussy throbbed hungrily, needing more of him.
"So it does," Kerven allowed. "You must excuse me. You are very hard to resist. I can do many things. Controlling myself around you is one of the hardest and most challenging."
Smooth-talker.
"Try," she answered shortly. "You are not excused."
With a fierce smile, Kerven gave her a small bow. Then he stood, lifting her with him as though she weighed nothing at all. Holding her in his strong arms, the captain carried her the few steps into the ship.
Paula had expected to be lowered down to stand on her own feet there, finally out of sight of even those who were looking at the hatch straight ahead. Instead, Kerven slammed her against the wall, kissing her deeply, pulling her blouse and jacket down, baring her breasts. He groped them, his mouth never leaving hers.
One of his legs came up to support her so Paula was sitting on it. What would have been an awkward and hard position for others seemed to be nothing to a Brion.
She moaned when Kerven lowered his head to kiss and lick her breasts, pulling her nipples between his lips and rolling his tongue over them. Closing her eyes in pleasure didn't help to try and focus in the midst of the pleasure that suddenly ruled over them both.
Not when she wanted him so badly.
"You are so beautiful," Kerven whispered to her, his hands groping her ass as she rubbed herself shamelessly against his armored leg. "Your heartbeat is like music to me. I can hear every time it skips when I do something you like. I want to drive you wild with pleasure, to make you breathless... all for me."
Paula could only moan. For the first time in her life, she envied the amazing Brion senses. What Kerven was saying sounded so good – to actually listen to his reactions, not guess at them. Then again, she didn't really need to when his desire for her was so obvious. It was exhilarating, to keep pushing him to extremes merely by existing.