Ash: A Phoenix Warrior Romance (Phoenix in Flames Book 9) Page 5

  Eventually they both managed to sleep, but they woke in the middle of the night to make love once more. This was the life he wanted for them. The only thing he wasn’t sure of was what they would do when children came. It was something they should have discussed since they hadn’t used any protection and it would happen whenever nature intended it to.

  Morning came swiftly and now they would deal with another day. He suspected it would be complicated like their enemies. Maybe it just seemed like life had been simpler before. The enemies had been straight forward and not overly bright. Now they were high tech and ready to cause the most harm. How would they deal with all this and survive?

  She lay in his arms as he thought about getting up, but he wanted her again. He was hesitant to wake her since she seemed to need the rest. That all went out the window when he saw her lovely eyes open and staring at him full of need. Leaning in, he kissed her sweetly at first then full of need.

  He moved them until he was on top and she was beneath him. “I need you so much.” He whispered.

  Now he moved his staff into position before sinking deep inside her. Pausing for a moment, he felt an enormous sense of belonging. Now he began to sink inside her. His movements sped up until he was hammering into her but she seemed to enjoy it.

  “Faster!” She yelled. Her body writhed with need as her legs twisted around his. She panted heavily as she arched up to meet each thrust.

  “Yes, Nila. Yes!” He yelled as her body wrapped around him and seized in a strong orgasm setting off his. His hips pumped as his seed flowed deep into her.

  Rolling over he laid on his back barely able to catch a breath just as the alarm blared. Nila told it to turn off. Moments later he felt sated and ready to take on the day as he waited for her to finish her shower. Taking one together would make it a long shower indeed. Once she was done, he entered to clean himself.

  They left the room together to eat breakfast with their usual crowd. Once that was done, he went to his room to change into a fresh uniform. It was time to discuss sharing a room since he planned to never let her go. This would be the right thing to do at this time.

  After they did that for a short time he wanted to ask her to be his forever. There was no doubt in his mind and he hoped soon there would be none in her mind. Meanwhile it was work again. He was on duty on navigation and he would watch the radar to see what might be out there. Since they were under an unknown threat, no one would have time off until things were settled.

  That was just the life of a warrior working for the Mazlans, or probably anyone else. That he had a special talent for finding the smallest blips, might account for his assignment every day. He didn’t mind and he felt safer when he was there because he did have that talent on this console. He’d bet most Phoenix did. The Earthers like Angel and Nila had talent in communications. It wasn’t that their hearing was better because it wasn’t. It was that they were good with codes and things of that sort.

  Everyone was placed where they were best when they were running under code red. The threat was real and until they figured it out and dealt with it, they would follow the rules set forth for these situations. That was how they would survive.

  Nila and Angel had mentioned they’d intercepted no unexpected messages. Onrue had agreed to meet with Razar the next morning. That made them feel he might not be responsible. They would know something once that talk was done. Meanwhile they would wait. This was the hardest thing to do and soldiers did it often.

  Ranger was once again next to him on the weapons console. He could tell the guy was just itching to shoot someone or something. Hopefully, that wouldn’t happen. Oak sat in the big chair giving them all any needed instructions. It was nearly lunch and nothing had happened and he was glad. Someone came in and took their places and they headed to the cafeteria.

  So far their breaks had all at the same time with so many new trainees on board. Once they were on a mission that might not always be the case. It was wonderful to see Nila in the middle of the day. His brothers were also wrapped up in their mates and Ranger paid Maple a great deal of attention. While she didn’t seem to mind, she didn’t act overly enthused either. That was why they were all letting things go for now.

  There was little talk since no one knew what might happen next. In the morning the talks might reveal something new, for now they were all just guessing. His mind was mostly on Nila whenever he was with her. He was sure everyone had noticed that their relationship had moved on to a higher level.

  If lunch was longer, he’d take her to her room and love the hell out of her. It was all he really wanted to do. But half an hour Earth time just wasn’t enough. For now his blue balls and hard as a rock cock would just have to wait. He adjusted them under the table so they wouldn’t hurt so much.

  Everyone was finished and the trays put up as they all marched out of the cafeteria and back to work. Walking just behind Nila was painful. Her uniform was snug and her ass called to him. It only made his want her more. She stopped at communications and gave her a claiming kiss to let her know what was coming after work.

  After she hurried into her workroom, he headed up to the bridge. Another dull shift, he hoped. Ranger was talkative, but he just kept his eyes on his console and gave grunts as answers.

  Ranger could look away from his screen, he would be told before he took a shot. The nav or navigation screen had to be watched closely at all times. Looking away could reign death on all of them. That wasn’t even an exaggeration judging by the last few days.

  In his mind he was planning a special night with Nila. He wanted it to be perfect so he could ask her to be his and his alone. That’s when he saw the blip again. This time he went straight to Oak.

  Chapter 6

  Rebels

  She was working hard when she intercepted a message from the big enemy ship to their base. The language had finally been unraveled by her and Angel with help from some others and of course, the computer. What she saw was hard to believe.

  The enemy king was discussing rebels and thought they had been trying to not only take out an enemy, but also the future king. It seemed few of their people were aware the prince along with females and children had been released. Their rebels seemed to be ruthless and not care who got in the way.

  Helping the enemy with their rebels wasn’t something they wanted to do, but she saw that happening under the circumstances. Recent events were really spiraling out of control and she was concerned about where all this would lead. Thank goodness it was finally lunch time.

  Angel came by her station and got her. “I see you got a winner.” Angel observed.

  “Yes, I sent it to Teresa and Razar. Did you view it?”

  “I did. It’s crazy, right?”

  “Yes, but unfortunately believable. Look what Mazlan rebels have done.” She declared.

  “Maybe so, but none of those were really Mazlans.”

  “Rebels are always different than the main stream citizens. That’s nothing new. As many planets as these people have conquered, any of them could have rebelled. I’m sure they blame Onrue and what better price to make him pay than his son?”

  “You have a point. It will be investigated and soon we’ll see what is happening. Good job catching it.”

  “Had we not translated their language it would have been gibberish.” That was why she was the one with ears on instead of Angel. It was because Angel was translating previous messages they’d not managed to understand at the time they’d caught them.

  Now they translated them as they received them. The enemy didn’t realize they could understand them. That was an advantage and they needed every one they could get. Their language was complicated and had taken time to translate. So much time had been covered by the newly trained that she and Angel would be taking turns fast forwarding through the times newbies had covered their stations.

  One thing for sure was that they would be busy at work. As they stepped into the cafeteria, their mates drew their eyes immediately.
Those Phoenix males were extremely hot. It was odd though that only Ash had ever attracted her attention in that way. She felt like it was fate that she would always be with him. Not that he’d discussed anything permanent.

  That made her begin to doubt and her steps toward him faltered. “What’s wrong?” He asked as she sat next to him.

  She managed a smile. “Just worries at work.”

  “You’re not being honest with me. Tonight I’ll get it out of you.” He promised. They all turned their attention to their food and no one talked until they were nearly through eating.

  “So what is this important communique that was intercepted?” Ranger asked. Everyone turned to stare at him. “What? I just wondered. Isn’t everyone curious?”

  She was sure they were, but not sure it was something everyone could know. Oak probably knew, she was almost certain he did. Angel would tell Elm and she would tell Ash, but that left Ranger and Maple out on the cold. That made her feel bad, but not bad enough to talk.

  “It just placed the blame for the bomb on third party. That means anyone in communications or on navigation needs to watch closely.” Oak said.

  “Damn, we have even more enemies?” Ranger said.

  “It would appear so and these people are ruthless.” Oak admitted.

  “That’s all we needed.” Maple admitted.

  At least Oak had given them something to think about with no real details. If anything, it would make those who heard extra diligent at their stations. Not that it wasn’t true, because it was. Now talk progresses to leave even though it wouldn’t be granted until this current crisis was averted. It was tiresome working all the time. Unfortunately, it had proven necessary.

  As far as leave went, she didn’t have anywhere to go unless she was invited along with some of the group. Secretly, while the thought scared her a bit, she hoped to be invited home with Ash. Last time she had missed him while he was gone. Her own leave had been spent on Oison since she hoped to save enough money to buy a house there.

  The people had been nice and she had done some shopping. Other than that, it had been restful, but boring. She didn’t like going to the fun places alone. Part of that was because she feared she’d be hit on by males. Now she could tell them she had a boyfriend. It was true some girls said it when it wasn’t true, but that wasn’t her.

  Meanwhile, lunch was done and Ash walked her back to work. A kiss that made her dizzy was his goodbye. She slowly walked to her station with her mind on nothing but him. “I’m back.” She told the young girl that gave her breaks.

  This girl was even shyer than she’d ever been. She rarely said a word and right now she nodded, handed her the head gear, and hurried away. The girl had light blue skin and hair black as pitch. Her eyes were gold and she’d been one of the slaves freed alongside her. What race she was no one seemed to know. There had been several one of a kind females and even males locked up where she herself had been.

  The others spoke of where they’d come from but there were no records of the places they spoke of. Most of the races of the surrounding galaxies were known here so they must be further away than that. Ash thought his older people might know and intended to ask about several of those now on the crew. His people had once been travelers and explorers and had extensive records of those races they had seen along the way.

  Life had gotten more interesting for her in a good way once she’d taken the job Teresa had offered her. How Teresa had known she could handle things always was a source of wonder. Many of the crew members that weren’t Phoenix or Mazlan were freed slaves or prisoners of the Mazlan rebels. Teresa and Flicker had taken a risk on them, but it had paid off.

  She’d heard Teresa was a risk taker, but Flicker was not. Maybe it was the balance between extremes that paid off for the two leaders. As far as the raiders went, most of them were Phoenix or Mazlan. But a handful were former captives that had more than proven themselves in the battle arena.

  From all she’d seen, it wasn’t easy to compete with or match the skills Phoenix and Mazlans had as far as battle went. It was easier on technical jobs as far as Mazlans went. Now she was seeing Phoenix had great technical skills after all. It was almost like they’d hidden those talents. But why would they?

  Now she listened in to the messages going from their ship to Razar and her eyes opened wide. Again? Could she have misunderstood? No! There was another bomb headed their way. This enemy was determined and would not give up. Rider was being sent out after it. They were sending him out in a heavily camouflaged ship just in case this enemy was looking for him.

  Thank goodness they had pilots and ships that could get the job done. If this bomb got through and destroyed their planet, it would take out their ship and the large enemy ship as well. Maybe that was their plan all along. If the planet was hit, pieces of it would be flung out in all directions. All ships, both moons, and anything else nearby would be destroyed.

  She listened barely able to breathe as Rider was sent out. Hopefully the enemy didn’t have technology to pick up on the hold opening and the camouflaged ship exiting. If this enemy was at a safe distance, they shouldn’t be able to see any of that.

  When the bomb was hit and exploded, she wanted to dance. A call went out for everyone to brace themselves. A wave hit the ship almost knocking her off her seat. A lighter wave hit and an even lighter one. Several waves hit each lighter than the wave before. Rider’s ship had been hit and propelled back. Luckily nothing had been in that section of space. It was an hour before he came through the bay doors.

  Now the question was, how would they find this enemy? Waiting couldn’t be an option anymore. They were like sitting ducks right here waiting to be taken out. She wasn’t sure what would be done, but she had faith on their leaders. They would do whatever needed to be done.

  Her day seemed to go super slow now. The minutes crawled by but finally her day was over. It was worse with the twelve hour days they were all putting in. Ash stood in the doorway waiting for her. How had he gotten here so fast?

  “You putting in extra time?” He asked.

  “I didn’t mean to, but I was trying not to look at the clock constantly.” She admitted.

  “Then let me escort you, my lady, to the cafeteria.”

  “I don’t mind if you do.” She giggled. Ash always made her so happy.

  Everyone was there and doubtless would know more than she did. Once they all sat down with full plates, she saw everyone was present. “What an explosion, huh?” Ranger asked. It drew all eyes to him. “What? Didn’t you all feel the waves coming off it?”

  “Yes, we all felt it. No, we don’t want to talk about it.” Oak said.

  “Think we’ll get sent out on raid?” Ranger asked.

  “Maybe, if they are found.” Oak replied.

  She was sure they would be sent. The raiders on this ship were the best of the best. There was no one else as able to send on such a mission. Not even the legendary Moon Hunters had taken missions like this. It was just matter of time.

  Now they all turned their attention to their foods and their own private thoughts. Not that her own thoughts were good. What if no one saw the next bomb that came? She’d heard it was hard to see it and Ash was the best at detecting it. If the one in his place wasn’t as good, they all might die.

  “What’s the matter?” Ash asked. “You look scared.”

  “I worry that the next bomb will not be detected. So far you’re the one that saw both of them.”

  “That’s true, but we’ve finally found a way for the radar to see them. We figured out their wavelength and the computer will send us an alarm if it picks it up. Be easy, Sweetheart. Now anyone can pick up on its presence.” Ash whispered.

  “That certainly makes me feel better.” Ranger admitted. “I wondered what all the fuss was about around your console.”

  “The fuss was all about making sure we wouldn’t be bombed to hell and back.” Ash informed.

  “You’re really good at this shit, Man. Ma
ybe you could give us all some training.” Ranger asked.

  “That’s above my paygrade. I do what I’m told.” Ash explained.

  “What? I just want to improve my skills. Why is that so bad?” Ranger asked.

  “It’s not.” A new voice added sounding amused. “Please stay seated.” Teresa instructed. “I like the suggestion for additional training. I had no idea that Ash and several other Phoenix had such advanced training. I guess that was why Flicker suggested they go on the nav console.” She cast an annoyed look at her mate.

  “I was trying to help.” Flicker said.

  “And you did without giving away any information. Everyone involved is lucky you did. Nila sent me an explanation of what would have happened had either bomb gotten through based on the wave that followed the explosion. All life in this sector would have been taken out.” Teresa explained.

  “Maybe they were trying to take out the enemy ship?” Oak asked.

  “And they didn’t care who else they took out with it.” Flicker agreed. “We’ll need to meet with all the raiders in the morning, early.”

  Chapter 7

  Rebels Down

  It was obvious what Flicker meant and Angel, Maple, and his Nila all had panicked expressions on their faces. He’d admit that he couldn’t really understand what being left behind waiting for someone to come home felt like. His father had quite those kinds of missions before he’d been old enough to understand what his father leaving for a work trip truly meant.

  Phoenix military was more about observation since few outsiders knew what they really were or what they had at their disposal. He’d quickly followed Oak to serve the Mazlans coming just after his other brother Elm had arrived. Since he’d not known about their earlier missions, he’d never worried. Now he was leaving Nila behind and there was always a risk he’d not return.