Page 47

Epilogue

Demeter Science Station

Wren never expected to ever set foot on Demeter again.

Approaching it had been surreal. Her beloved Pluto was unchanged in her absence.

She snorted at that bit of silliness. The Kevol had docked in a prime spot.

When she strolled down the ramp, she half expected the station head to be there to greet her.

Instead, Pierce stood there. His eyes were huge as he scanned the ship then settled on Durok and Fyca. When he spotted her, he glared at her.

“Wren, what have you done?” he hissed, grabbed her elbow, and pulled her aside.

She could only meet his gaze for a second.

Before he floated, his feet dangling.

Cy held him off the floor with a grip on his jaw. “Do not touch what is not yours.”

Her chest swelled. Damn, how she loved this man. With Pierce’s face mottling, she patted Cy’s arm. “Relax, thamani. Pierce is like a blood-bond.”

Cy dropped him. “The rule still applies.” He scowled. “We are in the open.” I do not like it.

Pierce straightened his jacket then rolled his jaw. “Explain. Now.”

“Fine,” she huffed. “Pierce, you remember Cylo, right?” She laced her fingers with Cy’s and rested her cheek on his bare bicep. “Repeat after me… Husband.”

“What?” Pierce scowled. “Your brothers are going to kill me.”

“They can get over themselves.” She flicked a dismissive wrist. “I’m not your problem or theirs anymore.”

“She is mine.” Cy beamed.

Pierce stilled then laughed. “That’s right. I might not have the authority to say this, but welcome to the family, Cylo.” He glanced over his shoulder. “I have stalled as much as I could, babe. E.A.F.’s here.”

“I know.” She squared her shoulders, not willing to admit how much Cy’s presence comforted her. Kanzo had said all was sorted, but humans lied.

“Pony?” Dallas thundered toward her, his arms open wide. The six-foot-three man with his massive shoulders and barreled chest was a big ol’ teddy bear. On him, though, his space boots looked small.

Another blood-bond? Cy shuffled forward, serving as a shield.

“Heard about your adventure. Wanna spill the deets over splice? You still owe me a night of drinking, if my memory serves.”

“Those days are behind me.” She smiled at Cy. “I have another addiction now.”

He smirked. If you keep looking at me like that…

“You’ll do what?” she whispered.

“Do not tease me, ensa,” he rasped.

“Who’s the hunk?” Dallas asked, offering his hand to Cylo.

He took it and pumped it twice. “Her husband.”

“Shit.” Dallas gaped then snapped his mouth shut. “That was quick. He knock you up?”

She laughed. “Cy, this is Dallas. And I hope so. Now, what’s with the welcome?”

“Just preparing to fight them off.” Dallas took a massive wrench from his pocket. She didn’t want to know what else he was hiding and where.

“We shall see,” she said, giving the man a sideways hug. “I have it on excellent authority that my criminal record is history.”

A thump-thump of marching boots cut across the chaos of the crowds.

Pierce lunged to stand beside Cy just as a unit of eight men in full E.A.F. uniform escorted a suited man to stop before them.

With a weak voice, the poor man’s gaze on Cylo, he said, “Turner, Wren, Identification number: 222510180522081-A, age twenty-nine, on parole for corporate espionage.”

“Yes?” She squeezed Cy’s arm and stepped forward.

“This is to inform you that due to the evidence provided by King Xeus et Pius of Etteria, Earth Armed Forces has dismissed your sentencing. Your record has been expunged and all technological rights returned to you.”

She blinked at the court representative. Two months ago, she’d have been over the moon. Now, with Cy beside her, none of this mattered. Sure, her name had been restored, and yet, she couldn’t say she was happy or sad about it. The supposed general who’d done this to her still roamed free.

“Thank you,” she said.

“Furthermore, you will be recompensed for the damages done to your reputation and livelihood.” He offered her a chip.

She accepted it on instinct.

He spun on his heel and, with his men, marched off. No apology, nothing.

Clicking the back of the chip, it read her thumbprint and illuminated a green number. The ludicrous amount did appease a little of her unhappiness.

Dallas whistled. “Guilty conscious, I’d say.” He grinned. “Let’s celebrate.”

She laughed. “Sure. Coffee.” She faced Cy. “If that is all right with you.”

His expression softened. Anything for you, thamani.

Dallas huffed. “Fine.”

With Cy by her side, they cut a swath through the gawking crowds.

She’d say they marveled at him, so handsome and scary with that scowl.

Yet, she couldn’t dismiss her inner voice that said they stared at purple her.

She tightened her door, keeping all but Cy from penetrating her thoughts. So far, so good.

Nothing had changed. Life went on, and Coffeeholics was exactly where it had always been.

Cylo paused in the center and studied the coffee shop, leveling his ice-blue gaze on everyone and everything.

Some people scurried out; others slithered in.

As soon as a seat by the glass windows opened, she sank into it.

Beyond, the unending construction was the foreground to space.

Excitement had her bouncing her knee. Real coffee and the expensive kind. Though, she doubted it was better than the rehydrator.

“Two cappuccinos with whipped cream,” she said to the server, then cupped Cy’s thigh under the table. “We came all this way for what?”

Closure. He draped his arm across the back of her chair.

“True.”

Pierce sliced glances between them. “I get you’re purple now, but what’s with the weird conversation?”

She shrugged. “Side effects.” She wasn’t going to go into it, especially when he’d demand she prove it.

“Well, I did let your brothers know you were coming home.” He smiled at the waitress…again.

Wren wanted to ask if he’d bedded her yet, but Cy shifted closer.

She likes him. With a nudge of his fingers on her shoulder, she pressed into the curve of his body.

She drew in a deep inhale, loving his smell.

But the scent of your arousal is so much sweeter. He nuzzled her neck. Like now.

Her cheeks burned.

“So, when did you two get married?” Dallas asked, shifting in his seat while tucking in his shirt.

“Good question,” she said, meeting Cy’s gaze.

“On a beach,” he rasped. “In a cave. In a shuttle bay. On a viewing deck.”

Her heart thundered and leapt with each of his responses.

“She was mine from the moment I met her.” He glanced at Dallas then Pierce. His O.D.I. buzzed. One moment, ensa. He rose and left the shop.

“Pony, are you sure about this?” Dallas leaned across the table to whisper, “There’s something lethal about him as if he can kill without hesitation.” Pierce slid his finger along the rim of his cup.

She beamed. “Yes, he can, and yes, he has.”

Pierce’s face paled. “I… We can’t save you this time, Wren.”

Dallas slapped him on his back. “I don’t think she needs rescuing, what with the full might of Etteria behind her.”

Cy returned, shifted the chair to within an inch from hers, and sat. “We will be staying longer than expected.”

“Oh?” she asked, tossing a smile at the waitress when she slid their order onto the table.

Malo’s Dar Eth was taken. Cy flicked off a dollop of cream and popped it into his mouth, sweeping his tongue across his finger to do so.

Her breath hitched. The world shrank.

She cleared her throat and fanned her flushed hand with the plastic napkin. “With what you told me about him, I pity the kidnappers.”

Cy smirked. Indeed. When he met Pierce’s gaze, he said, “And I will kill again if anyone threatens my wife .”

Dallas choked on a slurp of iced coffee while Pierce found the ships outside fascinating.

“Etterians have preternatural hearing,” she said, hiding her smile behind her cup.

“Wren Marie Turner, you better start explaining yourself.”

At that cultured voice parting the customers like Moses himself had arrived at Demeter, Wren winced.

“Shit,” she whispered. “Who called my mom?”