STORY EXCERPT

Lieutenant Ryan Devries quickly walked down the corridor of the council building, wondering why he was being summoned to General Vedic Merrick’s office. Their business with the Lady Blue was finished, the outcome favorable for the general and the crew. All charges had been dropped, and the Lady Blue crew, along with the general and his mate, were going on with their lives. Ryan had been released from his assignment and sent back to Tronos. His life in Elite Force had gone on as well.

Ryan knocked lightly on the door, entering when he heard the general’s deep voice call from the other side. He smiled slightly when he saw the general’s mate, Shane, sitting at a smaller desk behind the general, working diligently.

The man had a lot of catching up to do considering he was from the past. But the small smile on Shane’s face as he gave Ryan a little wave told him the man was exactly where he wanted to be.

“You wanted to see me, sir?” Ryan asked as he saluted the general.

“At ease, Lieutenant,” the general said as he took a seat behind his desk and waved a hand at a chair on the other side. Ryan took a seat and waited.

“I have orders from Admiral Monroe to execute warrants for a number of people involved in the cover-up and treason against the Federation of United Planets. It seems the list is a little more extensive than any of us had suspected.”

And Ryan had a feeling he was about to be handed that list. Call it a gut feeling, call it knowing the game of handoff, but Ryan could see that the vid-pad currently in the general’s hand was soon going to be in his.

“I want you to take a unit and hunt down these fugitives. I want them brought before the council to explain their part in this scandal.”

Ryan internally groaned. “And if they resist?”

“No one is to be hurt if you can help it, Lieutenant, but by all means, defend yourselves if need be. Just try and bring them in alive if possible. It’s kind of inconvenient to question someone with holes in them.”

Ryan gave the general a smile he didn’t feel. He so did not want this assignment. He was tired of running off all over the universe. He’d like to keep his feet on Tronos for a while.

“Some of the names you will be well acquainted with.”

And here comes the pad.

Ryan stretched his arm out to take the small, thin tablet the general was offering him. He took a moment to scan the vid-pad, spotting a very familiar name close to the top of the list. Gregory Tyvak. He was former Commander Brystan Pierce’s nephew. Former meaning that Ambassador Vystal shot his ass to keep Pierce quiet and made it look like he was saving his son, Commander Remington Vystal, instead of his own ass.

Junior Officer Gregory Tyvak was the one responsible for setting the Lady Blue crew up in the first place and bringing about their dishonorable discharge. It was all a setup to get his uncle into power as the commander over the entire Elite Force, a position that should have gone to Commander Remington Vystal. It had all been tied up very neatly that day in front of the full council with Pierce’s death.

As Ryan looked down the list, his jaw clenched. “Sandwan Vyjord had a hand in this?” The Nebulan scum was a thorn in Ryan’s side. Vyjord was the largest black market dealer in the Turok System, but always found a way to get away with his crimes whenever cornered.

The Elite Force could never find anything on his person or his ship. The man always seemed to know just when to play it safe. He was going to be a hard man to track down. Vyjord could fade into the underworld of the black market when he didn’t want to be found.

“Yes.” The general nodded. “But he is not a top priority. The top ten people on that list are, though. I expect this to be completed in a timely manner. Although their warrants do not have an expiration date, the Federation of United Planets would like this mess cleared up quickly and quietly.”

Ryan wasn’t sure how quickly he could bring these people in, considering the list was very long, and some of the names on the vid-pad had criminal records longer than the Turok Belt.

“Do I have discretion picking my team?”

“Yes. Pick the best men you can and I’ll clear whoever you choose.”

Yes!

Ryan could barely keep from pumping his fist into the air. He much preferred working with men he respected rather than ones he was stuck with. “I will have a unit assembled by the end of the week, sir,” Ryan said as he stood. “Who do I report to, General?”

“Me.” With a grim look on his face, General Merrick folded his hands together on the desk. “You report directly to me.”

“Understood, sir.” Ryan tucked the vid-pad under one arm and saluted with the other. Once the general saluted back, Ryan spun on his booted heel and headed for the door.

“And, Lieutenant,” the general said from behind him as Ryan reached the door.

Ryan sighed. He had almost made it out of there. He didn’t need any more duties added to his roster. It was already full enough. “Yes, General?”

“The Elite Force has already suffered a smudge against their name during this whole mess. Try to use tact and decorum when arresting these men and women.”

Tact and decorum? Was the man serious? Some of these men would try and shoot Ryan on sight rather than be arrested. Ryan gave a tight nod anyway. “Yes, General.”

ADULT EXCERPT

“You know, Kurt,” Ryan said in a voice full of mirth, “this whole sex thing works a lot better if both of us are naked.”

“What?” Kurt frowned as he dragged his eyes away from Ryan’s gorgeous body up to his face. The amused smirk on Ryan’s face reminded Kurt that he was supposed to be getting undressed. He felt his face flush as he quickly stripped the rest of his clothes off and tossed them aside.

Ryan’s eyes raked over Kurt with such lust that Kurt shivered where he stood. “Now, you’re talking.”

Kurt squeaked when he was suddenly grabbed and tossed on the bed. He had barely finished bouncing on the mattress before Ryan was on him, pinning his arms over his head as he hovered over the top of Kurt, his mate’s hard cock tapping at Kurt’s thigh.

“You are so damn beautiful, baby.”

Kurt’s eyebrows shot up. “Me?”

“Yes, you,” Ryan said matter-of-factly. “Do you see anyone else in this room?”

So unused to being considered beautiful, Kurt actually glanced around the room just to make sure. Ryan chuckled and lowered himself down until they were chest to chest, thigh to thigh, hard aching cock to hard aching cock.

“You will believe me before this night is through, Kurt.”

Kurt didn’t think so but he was all about Ryan proving him wrong any way that he could. The sensuous light growing in Ryan’s eyes told Kurt that Ryan was just as excited to prove Kurt wrong as Kurt was.

Kurt felt his heart race even faster as Ryan released his hand and reached up to gently touch his throat. Ryan’s hands wrapped a good ways around Kurt’s throat but the man didn’t grip him tight enough to cut off his breathing. Just enough to tilt Kurt’s head to one side.

And then Ryan leaned in and licked a line up the side of Kurt’s neck, right over his gills. Kurt shuddered as pure, radiant pleasure swamped his body. He couldn’t believe that Ryan had remembered how much that affected him. It was a well-kept secret among the Lakonian that their gills were a hot spot for them. Just the simplest of touches, or licks, was enough to make Kurt’s cock begin to throb painfully between their pressed bodies.

Ryan slowly kissed a trail down Kurt’s neck and past his shoulder. The gentle stroke of Ryan’s tongue caused a surge of heat to rise within Kurt. He started lifting his hips, grinding his cock into Ryan’s. He was pretty sure that Ryan could just lick him to completion. The man wouldn’t even have to fuck him. Kurt would just explode.

But damned if he wasn’t glad he didn’t have to test that theory. Ryan’s hands touched him everywhere. Every touch, however subtle, was driving Kurt insane. They stroked down the sides of Kurt’s body, sending a current of electricity straight through Kurt to his shaft. Kurt was so hard he was almost afraid that one strong breath would make his cock shatter.

When Ryan moved further down, licking and kissing his way to Kurt’s chest, Kurt arched off the bed and a breathless moan escaped his lips. It was guttural and sensual, letting Ryan know exactly what he was doing to Kurt. He just about lost his mind when Ryan ran the tip of his tongue around his nipples, teasing them to hard little nubs and latching on to them, sucking on each one.

“Ryan!” he cried breathlessly. Ryan’s wicked grin was Kurt’s undoing. Kurt moved toward Ryan, reaching for him with his arms, impelled almost involuntarily by his own passion. “Please.”

“Please what?”

Kurt knew exactly what Ryan was asking. It was in the darkening glint in Ryan’s needy blue eyes. Ryan needed Kurt to say the words that would bind them together as much as Kurt needed to say them.

“Please, mate, I need to feel you inside of me. I need you to make me yours.”

Ryan’s eyes dilated as the man inhaled sharply. Kurt suddenly knew he had unleashed something inside of Ryan, something primal and a little bit feral. Ryan might not have been a shifter or an alien species, but his basic instinct to claim his mate had just suddenly taken over the man and it looked like nothing was going to stop him.

Not that Kurt wanted to stop him. He was thrilled beyond reason to see the need to stake a claim in Ryan’s eyes. Ryan knew that they were mates now and he was going to make sure that Kurt knew it, too.

Kurt spread his legs, glorying in the feeling of Ryan’s bigger body settling between them. He tilted his head back, baring his throat to his mate, feeling totally and utterly exposed and at Ryan’s mercy. Kurt wasn’t a submissive by any means but even he knew when he was being confronted by an alpha male. Ryan needed to be in charge right now.

Maybe Kurt could be in charge next time.

Kurt reached under the pillow, hoping Ryan still kept his lube under the pillow like he had the last time they were together. He was right. He grabbed the bottle and pulled it out, quickly popping the lid. As he started to pour some out on his fingers he hoped that Ryan would give him the time to stretch himself out. In the single-minded fog that Ryan was in right now, he wasn’t sure the man had the patience.

Kurt’s eyes widened when Ryan growled and grabbed the bottle from him. Before he could protest, Ryan squirted some lube out on his own fingers and then dropped the bottle onto the bed.

Kurt smiled and reached for Ryan’s wrist. He guided Ryan’s hand down between his spread legs to his tight little bud, not taking his hand away until he felt a light pressure from the tip of Ryan’s finger against his quivering hole.