Chapter 26
Nia scanned the empty space around them, her stomach plummeting into her toes. There wasn’t anyone else around.
His eyes hardened. “Answer me.”
“It’s my day off,” she said, hating her unsettled tone.
He stepped toward her. “But why are you here on your own?”
She shook her head, not having a good answer. “I wanted to be alone.” She’d seen other captives with bonds like hers in common areas. Since Elec had stopped guarding her on her days off, no one told her she couldn’t be by herself.
“You’re very much alone, aren’t you?”
Apprehension shivered down her spine at his tone. His eyes scanned their surroundings, and when they landed on her again, he flashed her a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.
She took another step away from the railing, and he countered with a step toward her. Nia froze in place.
“I never properly introduced myself before,” he said, his sharp gaze making her heart beat with anxiety. “I’m Commander Foley, head of security, and I take my job very seriously.” His fingers twitched where they hovered by his gun.
Head of security? He was in charge of all the enforcers? Nia felt the blood drain from her face. Her heart beat erratically against her ribs. This man exuded lethal grace, and every instinct inside her screamed for her to run.
“And you’re like any CORE person I’ve ever met. You think you’re important, don’t you?”
Did he know who she was? Was that what he meant? More panic infused her limbs.
When he stepped toward the railing, no longer blocking her exit, the tension in her body eased. But it only increased again when he circled around her. The opening to the corridor was in sight, but he was close enough to grab her if she made a break for it.
Nia swallowed around the growing dryness in her throat. “It’s a beautiful station,” she said, her voice cracking.
“It is, isn’t it.”
He stopped in front of her and glanced at her wrists. She followed his gaze, and a sharp breath escaped her. The light on the side was flickering instead of being a solid blue.
“It’s interference from the engine core,” he said and her eyes snapped to his. “Gives a bit of privacy, doesn’t it?” His lips quirked. “Sometimes captives come here to commit suicide and all that’s left of them is charred bonds at the bottom of the chute.”
“How do you know it’s suicide?”
He grinned fully then. “Some think it would be better if you disappeared.”
Her insides turned to liquid. When she stepped to the side to move around him, he blocked her path. Clenching her jaw, she fisted her hands and prepared to defend herself.
Mace knew the tyros stared at him from the corner of their eyes. He knew Grey’s held questions. But he ignored all of it in favor of pretending he hadn’t carried his ward out of here kicking and screaming an hour ago, then returned with his pants soaking wet and scratches all over his body. He’d put on a new uniform as quickly as possible.
The messed-up thing was what they all thought had happened, had happened. Only, no one knew she’d practically ordered him to fuck her.
If he declared to everyone around she’d asked for it, how would that sound?
The old laws were so twisted. Despite the speculation shot his way, no one would do a blasted thing for her. The only people who would listen to complaints were the processors, and Mace could pay them to look the other way.
Nia was right to condescend.
He wiped a hand over his face and glanced at his vambrace for the tenth time since returning. Her tracker showed movement as she headed away from his quarters. Some of the tension in his body relaxed. If she was on the move, then she was doing okay. She wouldn’t mope alone for the remainder of her time off.
Though, Dee had been clear a couple weeks ago not to call it moping.
As Mace watched the tyros grapple in pairs, using the new skills they’d learned, Grey stopped beside him with his arms crossed and sent him a look.
“What?” Mace spat, knowing whatever his friend wanted to say, it wouldn’t be good.
“I’m thinking you’re not setting a good example for the youngsters.” His eyes lingered on the exposed scratches at Mace’s throat.
“For fuck’s sake, Grey, I didn’t hurt her.”
His friend raised an eyebrow, expression skeptical.
“You can ask her yourself,” Mace went on. “I’m sure she’d love that. You can find her in—” He stopped speaking when he’d glanced at his vambrace again.
The connection to her bonds had been severed. He didn’t have a location tag.
Panic made him run towards the stairs. He touched his vambrace to send Dee a communique and slid the comm device from his vambrace to his ear. He took the steps three at a time and was almost to the exit when she responded.
“What do you mean, ‘Where is Nia?’ You were the one who carried her away kicking and screaming.”
His trepidation grew as he stepped out onto the fifth level of the atrium. “I left her in my quarters. She’s not there anymore, and her tag stopped working. I was hoping you were with her.”
“No. I’m in my shop.” There was a rustling of movement before she asked, “What did you do to her?”
Over the railing, he scanned below hoping to spot her. “I didn’t—” He stopped speaking because his protest would have been a lie. He’d fucked her and left her alone.
He ran a shaky hand over his face. “Where would she go?”
“I don’t know. We’ve been to a ton of places.”
“Tell me all of them.” Why would her bonds stop sending him a signal?
“The arboretum, the museum, the aquarium, Tchocho’s Place for drinks a couple of times. She really loves the arboretum, though.” He moved toward the lift, intent on checking the arboretum first, when she added, “I took her to the engine core once, then we went—”
“That’s it.” There would be enough interference from the energy output to mess with her signal. He slapped the control panel on the lift. “Thanks, Dee.”
“I’ll help you look.”
“No, I’ve got it.” He didn’t want her to feel like they were teaming against her.
The lift descended, too slowly for his taste, and opened at the central deck of the engine core.
The hum of the engine core pulsed toward him, almost like a living thing. He sometimes thought of it that way, the heart of Orion. Or, four hearts, each section independently powered by its own core. Orion wouldn’t exist without them, only a hunk of metal floating in space. The engine cores gave it life.
Mace strode through the corridor, his unease at being separated from Nia’s tracker increasing with each step. The overhead disappeared as he stepped into the reactor chamber. He quickly scanned the deck, but it was deserted. His eyes moved upward, and his heart lurched in his chest. She stood too close to the railing, and she wasn’t alone. Foley stood in front of her, head bent like he told her secrets.
Heart threatening to burst out of his chest, he raced back the way he’d come, found the service ladder, and climbed it as fast as he could. The thin metal bars bit into his palms. His boots slapped against the deck as he jogged the narrow corridor and it once again opened into the voluminous space of the reactor chamber. When he stepped into Nia’s line of sight, he didn’t imagine the relief in her eyes.
“Foley.” The word came out a harsh bark, and the other commander tensed and straightened. The bastard had his hand on her shoulder, thumb pressing into the delicate center of her throat.
Mace’s vision blurred, his hand went to his gun on his thigh, but Foley let go of her and she skirted him to rush toward Mace.
“Are you okay?” he asked when she stood in front of him.
She gave him a quick nod, but her face remained wan. He brushed his hand against her shoulder, attempting to erase Foley’s touch. A small, pink oval stood out against Nia’s pale skin where he’d pressed her throat. Fury raced through Mace.
Tucking Nia behind him, he stared at Foley who leaned against the railing overlooking the engine core shaft like he hadn’t a care in the world.
“What are you doing here?” Mace asked, calculating all the ways he could kill the bastard right now.
Foley smirked. “Shouldn’t you ask your ward that question? Unlike her, I have reason to be here.” He smiled, and it wasn’t nice. “I was making sure she wasn’t contemplating suicide. She seemed distraught. What is happening behind closed doors, Commander? I’ve received some reports about screaming from your section of the quad.”
Mace wouldn’t take the bait or the deflection, not when Nia tightly gripped the hem of his shirt. Was it to hold him close, or because she didn’t want him to beat the shit out of his colleague?
Foley pushed away from the railing and sauntered past them. “Take care of your ward, Commander. Wouldn’t want anything to happen to her.” He left the reactor chamber whistling.
The need to go after him and beat him into a pulp almost overwhelmed every other thought.
“What did he say to you?” Mace asked her when Foley’s whistling had faded.
Eyes aimed at his chest, she shook her head. “Not a lot. Tried to scare me or something.” She lifted her eyes to meet his. “I think he might know my identity.”
Impossible.If Foley knew, Nia would already be in the brig because he’d want a cut of her ransom. But realizing she’d caught his personal notice…Mace ran a hand over his face. Could he even send her to common holding now? If he’d been worried about her safety before, now he was doubly so.
“Come,” he said, hand skimming her spine to rest on the small of her back.
She stepped closer until her shoulder pressed against his ribs. His chest squeezed at the accepting action.
Gently, he guided her to the corridor leading to the lift. She kept quiet during the ride to his quarters, but her body stayed close to his.
He shouldn’t have left her earlier. He should have let her dress in privacy, then returned to make sure she was okay.
He kept making mistakes when it came to her.
The door to his quarters slid shut behind them, enclosing them in silence.
Nia lifted her eyes to look at Mace. She hadn’t felt warm since the other commander had found her in the engine core, Mace’s body heat the only thing keeping the cold at bay. She stepped closer and grabbed his forearm, fearing he would once again leave her.
The movement snapped him out of whatever thought had frozen him. He closed the small gap between them, swooped her into his arms, and carried her to the bed. They settled together, front to front, her head tucked under his chin on his shoulder, his arms tight around her.
The position loosened something inside her, and an exhale shuddered through her body.
“I’m sorry, Nia.” His fingers brushed gently where Foley had gripped her throat. It hadn’t been hard, but effective. A bit more pressure, and he could have done severe damage to her larynx.
She swallowed, lifting her gaze to Mace’s from the cocoon of his arms. His icy blue eyes brushed over every feature of her face, searching. She wasn’t sure what the apology was for, their bout of sex against the bulkhead? The underlying threat coating the other commander’s words? Or taking her from her home? His gaze seemed to hold all of that.
And if someone had told her before coming here, that a warrior could apologize, she would have laughed for an hour.
But sincerity lived in his expression, making her chest squeeze and her throat tighten. She was tired of battling her feelings for Mace, tired of feeling guilty for every morsel of peace she found here.
With a small nod, she accepted his apology.
His expression relaxed, and he pulled her closer. She couldn’t stop herself from snuggling deeper, reveling in how his body surrounded hers so completely.
“I don’t think I should go to common holding,” she whispered against his chest. Then, because it wasn’t the complete truth, added, “I don’t want to go.”
His arms tightened around her, then relaxed. “All right.”
Her bonds beeped, and she glanced downward. Her day off was over.