Undercover(2)

Sera stared at him, openmouthed, helpless fury riding her hard. She hated him just a bit less than she loved him, and she loathed her weakness for him. Ash Walker made her vulnerable, and she couldn’t afford it.

“I’d rather sit in the brig.”

He sighed. “You’d be wasted in the brig. I told you, we need you.” He pulled a comm unit out of his pocket. “Brandt, send in two guards to escort Lieutenant Ayers to her quarters to pack her gear. They are to stay with her and be sure she gets to our rendezvous point by the proper time.”

“Ash . . .” Brandt paused. “Yes, sir. I’ll have them wait just outside the front doors. I’m on my way.”

“I can’t believe you’re doing this.”

“Get over it, Sera. It was ten years ago.”

“I hate you. I hate the sight of you.” Sera pushed past him and out into the hall. She didn’t resist when Brandt took her arm and handed her over to the guards.

“Ayers, I’m sorry. I didn’t know there was a problem,” Yager said quietly, pausing to scowl at Brandt and Ash.

“It’s not your fault, sir. Please make sure my team gets a good leader.” Her people. She’d trained them. They’d been like her family, and all she had left was to hope they’d be all right.

“Count on it.” Yager nodded, turned a glare on Ash and they watched as the guards led her out to their vehicle.





Brandt looked over at Ash, his face lit by the yellowish street-lamps they drove past. He could see how troubled his friend was—had been since Brandt had given her name to him.

“You okay?”

“I never should have let her go.”

“No. You shouldn’t have. But you had no other choice, and you did what you had to do. You can’t change the past, Ash. The real question is about right now. What are you going to do?”

“I can’t believe I walked away from her to marry Kira. Brandt, you don’t understand; Sera was perfect. So strong. She led all day long. But at the end of her shift, once we entered our quarters, she let all that fall away. Gave herself to me. Gods, that pretty skin of hers turns the most alluring shade of pink. I can still see the marks on her ass and thighs after she’d been flogged or paddled.” Ash kept his eyes on the passing scenery, so Brandt knew he was thinking back.

“Knock it off, Ash. You’re making me hard. And I can’t see how this is going to help. Are we bringing her on to help win the war or to get her back in your bed?” Brandt was troubled by the answer he’d give if he had a say. He liked the look of Sera Ayers and couldn’t deny her appeal after hearing Ash talk about her through the years.

“Hey!” Ash sat up straight but slumped back into the seat again. “The war. She’s a great asset. We need her.”

Brandt stayed silent but raised a brow as he drove.

“Okay, okay. Both. I knew I wanted her back, but I thought I’d be able to keep that separate. I didn’t realize the depth of what I’d missed until she walked into the room, and I saw her again. Smelled her skin, saw the flush on her face when she got angry.”

“Felt her fist connect with your jaw?” Brandt smirked.

“Whose side are you on, anyway?”

Brandt chuckled. “That’s a stupid question. Kira may be my sister, but I’ve always thought you two were wrong for each other. She’s much happier now with her spineless, pushover husband in her political marriage. You’re a bad memory.” He shrugged. “But from what little you’ve told me and what I saw tonight in how Sera reacted to you, I don’t know that getting her back in your bed is a possibility. We need her on this team, Ash. More than you need to fuck her.”

“I can have both.” Ash was smug as he said it. “I know her buttons, Brandt. Know them better than anyone. I just have to remember how to push them at the right time.”

“If you say so.”





“He what?” Sera’s father exclaimed via the vid screen. Over a secure channel, she’d just told him about Ash showing up, dismantling her team and ordering her onto his.

“Oh, so you weren’t good enough to marry ten years ago, but you’re good enough when the Federation needs you. Damned Families think they’re better than those of us whose sweat and blood have kept the Universes free all these years.”

“Dai, I know. You don’t have to say it twice. I have no choice. He sent guards with me. They’re outside.”

Jakob Ayers’s face softened when her voice turned strained. “Of course, baby. I’m sorry. You go. You aren’t one who shirks her duty. You go and do your job. Keep your eyes on your objective. There’s no law that says you have to like your commander. Gods know, I’ve served under a few dunderheads in my time, too. This’ll make you stronger. I know you; you’ll make it work for yourself. I’m proud of you.”

Sera fought tears. “Thank you, Dai. You’ll tell Mai and clear my quarters? I’ll check in when I can.”

“Of course I’ll tell her. She’s going to be upset she missed your call. But we love you, and we’ll light a candle for you every day at temple. Be safe.”

Signing off, Sera shoved her tears down as far as they could go and finished jamming her things into the three allotted bags. Her orders had been for an unspecified period of time, standard language for mobile assignment units. They wouldn’t hold her quarters that long. Her mother would come to pack the rest of her belongings so the military could assign the unit to another soldier.

“Lieutenant Ayers, it’s time to go,” one of the guards at the door said not unkindly. She could see his unwillingness to be part of the situation in his eyes. But he was in the corps like she was. Orders were orders.

“Fine. Be useful and carry this.” She tossed him a bag, and he took it, looking grateful to help in some way. She shouldered the two other bags, and the guards led her to the transport vehicle.

As they drove, she tried to process everything. The longer she thought about the situation, the more sense it made that Ash would be so highly connected in the military. He came from a Ranking Family, and the Families controlled the highest levels of the Federation, including the military. Sera recalled enough history to know that the Pelas were another powerful Family, although their territories were far flung from the Walkers’. Something else niggled at the back of her mind, but she was too tired, too wired and angry to grasp it.

She should have been flattered. If it were anyone but Ash Walker, she’d have jumped at the chance to serve on one of the mobile units. She believed in what she was doing. Believed that if they didn’t fight against the constantly spreading tyranny of the Imperialists, billions of citizens through all the Known Universes in the Federation would be enslaved.

Still, the idea of submitting to his command again in any way deeply troubled her. At one time in her life she’d loved him so much she’d actually considered his offer to be his mistress. He would have had his Family-approved union  , of course. Why should a Family member ever have to suffer? And as an officially recognized mistress, Sera could have even borne his children. But in the end, her pride and self-respect had won, and she walked away.

After twenty minutes the transport slowed at an outlying suburb, pulling into a garage attached to a small series of outbuildings.

She was then loaded into a small helicopter and taken on another lazy, back-and-forth route for a few minutes more until the copter touched down on a pad behind a large estate.

As she pulled her bags from the helicopter, Sera saw Brandt come out of the main house. The precise and predatory walk coupled with the hyperaware gaze told her he wouldn’t be caught off guard again any time soon. She was going to have to accept her lot.

She took pity on the guard at her side. “Don’t worry, I won’t make a break for it.”

“I’m sorry, Lieutenant Ayers. I wish . . .” His eyes caught hers for a moment.

“Everyone’s sorry. But it’s the way things are. You get orders. I get orders. We don’t like them, but they’re orders just the same. Now go on. Try and have a good night.”

She shut the door carefully, hefted her bags and stepped back. The men stayed in the helicopter, and it cheered her that they took her at her word. At least she had that. They took off, and she gathered a steadying breath and moved toward where Brandt stood, waiting.

“Sera, can I get one of your bags?” Brandt asked as she approached.

“Where are my quarters, PC?” Her voice was crisp and efficient.

He sighed. “Are we going to do it this way?”

“What do you want from me? I don’t want to be here. You busted up my team, and gods only know who’ll lead them now. You put me under the command of a man I loathe. Military code does not require me to like this assignment or to pretend to be excited about it. I don’t have to be nice. I just have to obey orders. Which I will do. Now, where are my quarters, or is there a briefing? Perhaps you plan to keep me in the dark?”

Brandt grabbed one of her bags with a snort and jerked his head. “This way. We’ll get your bags stowed, and then we’ll have a meeting. Ash will want to go over things with you.”