Page 25 of Stars in Umbra (The Sable Riders #8)

Heavens over Eden, her hair. Tonight it fell in a gleaming torrent that framed her face, and cascaded down her back, making his fingers itch, wanting to stroke it.

The loose waves by her cheeks softened the fire in her expression just enough to make him ache with need.

Her lips were glossy, curled in a secret little smirk, but it was her eyes he adored.

They were a penetrating, dark hazel lit with a dangerous mix of mischief and wit.

Fokk , she stole the breath from his lungs.

The fact that this extraordinary woman was his lover was a reality that still astounded him.

Now, in his arms, she arched her back, her head thrown back on his shoulder, lost in passion.

Even as his hand, cupping her breast, tugged and pulled at her swollen nipple.

He found himself repeating the words over and over, like a sacred chant, as bliss so hot and incandescent spread over his entire body.

She moaned, her hands reaching back for him, wrapping around his ass to pull him deeper into her.

His glyphs strobed as her pussy contracted over his thick, rigid, and pulsing cock, while his fingers stroked her clit with no mercy.

He lost himself in her moans, the scratch of her nails on his thighs, the shudder in her breath when he whispered her name.

He gasped, nose buried in her nape, thrusting faster, with great intensity, until with a roar, he came hard.

He held her tight as she shuddered with him through their shared euphoric bliss.

Sweat poured over him as he kept cumming, her rippling wetness drawing out every drop of essence from him.

He collapsed onto the bed, arms encircling her, still in utter disbelief at the level of ecstasy Rina was capable of giving him.

No other woman blew his mind the way she did.

She twisted in bed and gave him a long kiss.

‘So sleepy.’

‘Have at it,’ he encouraged, arms enveloping him, his cock still rooted in her.

He buried his face in her neck and inhaled her musk and perfume that mingled with the saltiness of raw sex.

Fokk , it did things to him.

It stoked the fire under his glyphs until they pulsed and glowed across his chest and arms, marking the way she burned herself into him.

After a beat, he rolled from her, eased out of her, and tracked to the bathroom in her guest suite.

They hadn’t made it to his place the night before.

Her suite was on a lower level, and desperate to quench their desire as fast as possible, they’d taken the closer option.

Now, he returned, wiping her clean.

She mumbled a soft ‘s ante ’ under her breath before nestling back into sleep.

He returned the towel and came back to her, sliding in close, one knee lifted and bent beneath the sheet, as he stared at the ceiling, wrecked for her .

She freakin’ tore him apart, piece by piece.

Not just with her body, but her mind. Her wit. Her wildness in bed was uncaged.

Her brilliant intelligence was alluring, but it was the softness she thought she hid away that intrigued him.

He never expected to feel so drawn to her in this way.

All his plans for the coming week were clear, making room for her.

All he could think about was how to keep her close while she was still on Eden II.

How he’d make her laugh, moan, go deeper into her essence, fokkin ’ drown in it.

More thoughts slipped through, of forever perhaps, with her.

His mouth curled at the thought. It was wild, but hell, he was up for it.

He turned once more, eyes on her lithe, beautiful spine and the curve of her hips.

Damn this woman, this storm in human form.

As soon as she woke, he was ready to immerse himself in all of her, over and over again.

RINA

Rina stirred under the soft linen sheets, warm and tangled in Mo’s heavy embrace.

His lips brushed the crown of her head.

A pleased rumble vibrated through his chest.

‘Morning, mi kaya ,’ he murmured against her curls.

She smiled, eyes still closed, nuzzling closer.

One of his hands splayed across her hip, the other lifted to stroke a slow path down her arm. His touch was so tender she almost wept.

‘You’re giving off the most sensual, sexy scent,’ he said, trailing kisses from her temple to her shoulder, sniffing her skin, getting high on her.

‘And you smell like trouble,’ she replied, voice husky with sleep.

He laughed and rolled, pinning her, pressing a kiss to the center of her chest. ‘Damn right.’

A soft chime interrupted them, announcing the arrival of a visitor.

Rina groaned and covered her eyes.

‘I’ve got this,’ Mo rasped.

He rose, pulled on his pants, and padded barefoot to open the suite door.

A sleek droid bot glided in, pushing a silver trolley, and left moments later.

Mo opened the lid, which lifted with a hiss of steam, revealing spiced egg custard buns.

A second platter featured slivers of cured sky-fish, pickled fennel, and edible orchids, along with miniature coffee tarts and a crystal bowl of sweet peaches soaked in star flower syrup.

Finally, a kahawa carafe with a brew so rich it filled the room with roasted heat.

Rina’s stomach growled, tugged on a long tee, and wandered into the living area, staring with delight at the feast.

‘You ordered breakfast?’ she exclaimed.

‘I always feed women I plan to ravish all day long,’ Mo rasped with a wolfish grin.

She tossed a couch cushion at him, laughing. ‘Smooth.’

She moved to the small dining nook in her kitchen and he sat beside her, bare to the waist, his torso bathed in sunlight, the glow of his glyphs kissing the ridges of his muscles.

He picked a croissant and held it to her lips.

‘Eat,’ he said.

She obeyed, biting down.

The pastry was flaky, buttery, and light. ‘ Fokk ,’ she moaned. ‘I’ve never had one this good.’

‘You’re welcome,’ he murmured, brushing a crumb from her mouth with his thumb, then licking it off.

They bantered between bites, sharing soft cheese and syrup-drenched fruit, discussing the morning’s news holo headlines, and sipping kahawa as if they’d done it a hundred instances before.

Then, as he handed her another tart, she paused, her smile fading.

‘I have a question.’

His brow furrowed as he drawled. ‘ Naam ?’

‘Last night, during, ' She hesitated. ‘You said a phrase a few times. In another language.’

His eyes narrowed. ‘What did I say?’

‘ Za ki zama tawa kuma uwar ‘ya’yana . I think I’ve got it right.’

She repeated it, testing the syllables.

Mo froze.

‘I said that?’ His timbre roughened.

‘Several times.’

‘What dialect is it?’ she asked.

He blinked, a tad confused. ‘I don’t know.’

‘You have no idea what you were saying, honey?’

‘ Nada ,’ he rasped. ‘Not consciously. It’s probably an old Iccythrian phrase. A dream fragment, something a lover says in the throes of passion.’

Rina tilted her head. ‘I want to know. Shall we try SableNet’s universal translator?’

He shrugged. ‘I suppose.’

She turned, cupping her mug. ‘SableNet,’ she called out. ‘What does the phrase ‘ Za ki zama tawa kuma uwar ‘ya’yana ’ mean, and what language is it?’

After a beat came a soft melodic ping, followed by a smooth, dulcet voice:

‘The vernacular is in High Sacran. It translates to: ‘ You are mine, and you will be the mother of my children .’

Silence fell like a blade.

Rina’s fingers tightened around her cup, and her throat closed.

Mo sat back, his face darkening as the words settled between them.

‘I see,’ Rina murmured, her eyes locking onto his.

To his credit, he didn’t look away, nor did he give any signs of bashfulness. ‘I had no clue I was saying that.’

‘Okay.’

It wasn’t okay, not by a long shot.

It was a hastily made statement about a love affair that had just begun.

Rina felt the room contract around her, suddenly too warm, too close. Her breath came faster. Her pulse pounded.

Mo leaned forward, gaze steady. ‘So what if I did, mi kaya ?’

‘ Mi kaya ? You keep calling me that.’

‘It means my beautiful one in Iccythrian.’

She shook her head in confusion, yet with a half-smile, her hair falling onto her cheeks in waves. ‘You’re quite the linguist, and it’s a very potent endearment, as was the statement you made in Sacran.’

Mo pushed his tongue to the corner of his mouth.

The move was so enticing that Rina almost moaned until she caught herself, chiding her traitorous body to stop betraying her.

‘What if my soul meant it?’ he rasped.

She stared at him, stunned.

Wild thoughts went through her mind, laced with panic. ‘Well, that’s fine, but honey, what you said mentioned being owned? Bearing your children?’

‘What’s wrong with that?’

‘That’s a little problematic for me.’

His features iced over. The heat in his eyes turned to an unreadable, stormy gray ‘Right.’

‘I didn’t mean for it to come out -’ she started, but stopped.

This was going too fast. Too much. Too soon.

She pushed to her feet, stumbling. ‘I have to go.’

His hand shot out to help her, his sinewed fingers wrapping around her wrists.

He didn’t hold on tight; it was a loose grasp, but she knew if he tightened it, she’d not be able to release herself.

He was that strong.

‘Where are you going, Rina?’

His timbre was calm, yet laced with an edge.

‘I’ve got work to deal with.’

‘Bullshit. On the weekend? I thought the official conference ended last night. All that’s left are the intel briefings.’

‘Regardless, I’ve got stuff to do,’ she murmured. ‘Also, I don’t answer to you.’

His face hardened even more, and she caught a flash of what made him formidable flicker across his eyes. ‘ Nada . You don’t.’

She pulled at her hand. ‘This is all happening too fast.’

His jaw tensed. ‘Is it now?’

‘I don’t do games, Mo. Neither do I function well with alpha energy possessiveness or ancient prophecy-level declarations about my future.’

‘I’m a straight shooter,’ he growled. ‘I say it like I see it.’

‘I bet you do, but you don’t own me, and you never will.’

His expression didn’t change; however, his eyes iced over.

‘So what was this?’ he rasped. ‘A flash-in-the-pan affair?’

She paused, unable to meet his gaze. ‘We were having fun, or so I thought. It just seems too soon to talk about owning each other.’

‘Is it too soon?’ he rasped.

She leaned closer, her face imploring him. ‘Don’t you think it is?’

His jaw worked.

‘Mo, please let go of my hand,’ she added. ‘I need to get to work.

He released her.

She backed up, took one last look at his broad frame seated at the table, half-dressed, eyes like cold steel, shoulders drawn tight, and fled.

Her heart hammered as she slipped into the next room, got ready in ten minutes flat, and came back out to find him still in the same position, cradling his kahawa .

His eyes cast to the view outside of Eden II’s glowing air lanes and traffic dancing through the skies in sequenced grids.

‘I’ll see you around, Mo,’ she said, her voice so brittle it trembled on the final syllable. ‘Please lock up after you leave. The code is -.’

‘I’m Sable HQ’s chief of security,’ he cut her off, his gaze slicing into her with the force of a physical blow. ‘I think I know what it is.’

She froze, the words hanging between them, heavy with unspoken meaning. They both knew the cipher he referred to wasn’t for the door.

It was the one they broke the moment they dared to let their hearts get involved.

The silence throbbed, thick and painful.

She tracked to the door where she turned, her hand on the latch, and paused for a brief, agonizing moment.

He gave her a two-fingered salute dripping in irony.

‘ Sayonara , Colonel,’ he rasped, his voice so dry and hard it could have cut glass.

The door hissed shut, separating her from him.

Pain scythed through her, and with an inhale, she walked away with her shoulders back, her head held high.

However, inside, her heart was not just broken; it was fractured down the center, splintering into a thousand pieces of fear and longing.

Become his and have his children?

The thought ricocheted through her mind, a terrifying and beautiful possibility.

Rina shook her head as she marched down the passageway, her soul screaming in protest.

She wasn’t ready.

Not for that declaration, or forever. Not for the wild, consuming emotion that Mo’s eyes promised every time they locked on hers.

For years, she yearned for an intimate relationship, a partner who would see her beyond the rank, the polished armor, the iron-clad competence.

Now, here was Mo, a man sculpted like a god, thoughtful in ways she had never anticipated, protective without ever being possessive.

Panic rose in her throat, a tidal wave threatening to drown her.

For all her dreams of love, Rina wasn’t ready for the cost.

She stood on the precipice of a monumental career; her brigadier stripes were within reach, and she was a one campaign away from the upper echelons of Peace Corps leadership.

This was the work she lived for; the structure, the responsibility, the bone-deep sense of contribution it gave her. It was her rhythm, her center of gravity, her freedom. She feared losing the core of who she was.

If she allowed his touch to rewrite her, to anchor her to something domestic and soft, what would happen to the steel inside her?

This anxiety clawed behind her ribs, a dark certainty that love had always demanded a compromise she was unwilling to make.

Buried even deeper was a shadow she never spoke aloud: the fear she wasn’t worthy of devotion.

She had loved before, and her former lover had used her loyalty like a leash, keeping her close and discarding her when it suited him.

She had clung on, blaming herself, until she finally walked away, shattered and broken. The Peace Corps saved her; its structure and mission kept her mind busy.

Now, to be vulnerable again?

It was a risk to hand over her heart, especially to a man like Mo, who saw through her bravado and played no games. It was too much, too soon. Too freakin’ real.

She was terrified of losing the woman she fought so hard to become, because in her experience, love had always demanded a compromise.

Rina had come too far to devolve into anything less than who she was.

Even if her soul called out Mo’s name and her spirit yearned with aching agony to run back into his arms.