A Touch of Lilly (22 page)

Dallas
absently brushed hair from her eyes. “At first
Hij’Rozhod
was simply eliminating anyone publically opposing the slave trade.
Over the last few years, he turned his attention to Tervoss’
campaign. Seems having Tervoss or any of his cronies at any level of
the planetary governments would have meant a crackdown on their very
lucrative business. They’ve been systematically taking out
Tervoss’ strongest supporters and filling in the positions with
dirty officials who were willing to turn their backs on the problem.”

“
And
your boss Bastower was involved?” she asked.

“
Right
up to his hairy Braugtot ass,” replied Thaegan.

Lilly
settled deeper in the pillows. “The two were working together
at the airstrip then?”

“
One
causing a distraction…your Drikspa,” Dallas said.

“
And
one doing the killing…our boss,” Thaegan finished.

Lilly
wanted to laugh at the ridiculous way they spoke in tandem. But from
their expressions, she assumed they weren’t even aware of it.
“They’re both in custody?”

“
Nope,
dead.” Thaegan said it as if the men had simply gone for a
walk. “Dallas shot the Drikspa when he tried to take you out.
Pushed you to the ground—”

“
Unfortunately,
I wasn’t fast enough. He managed to get off two shots with some
new high-powered luna crystal gun.”

“
The
weapon’s in government hands now,” Thaegan said.

“
You
took one shot in the gut and one to the side of your head.”
Dallas swallowed hard.

“
The
man doesn’t give himself enough credit.” He slapped
Dallas on the back. “If he hadn’t gotten to you when he
did, that second shot would’ve pierced your heart instead of
bouncing off that thick skull of yours.” Thaegan smiled.

She
ignored Thaegan’s playful jab. “And Bastower?”

“
One
day in jail convinced the man he wouldn’t have survived the
rigors of being a dirty cop in the midst of all those low-lifes
looking for revenge,” said Dallas.

“
Offed
himself with a bed sheet.” Thaegan mimed hanging from a noose,
complete with his tongue lolling out of the side of his mouth.

Lilly
wanted to feel bad, but too many good people had died at the hands of
the two aliens. “So it’s over?”

“
QAL’s
working on rooting out the rest of Bastower’s minions. We
suspect we’ve seen the end of
Hij’Rozhod
’s
reign of terror for sure. But
Lilly,
there’s something else.” Dallas flicked his eyes to
Thaegan who nodded. She had no doubt now that they’d saved her
life they were headed out to their next QAL assignment.

“
It’s
okay.” She tried not to let the sadness and disappointment
color her words. “Bounty hunting’s been good to me.
Despite what Tervoss hopes, deep space will continue to crawl with
criminals. You two—”

Dallas
put a warm finger to her lips, stopping her verbal diarrhea. “My
turn to talk.”

She
blinked and nodded.

“
I
donated the blood. It works in your organs the same, well, sort of
the same. But I’m pretty sure it’s going to affect your,”
his hand waved up and down her body, “your gift. I’m not
sure how that works exactly, but if it’s something in your
blood—”

“
We
suspect Dallas broke it,” said Thaegan.

Lilly’s
heart did a stutter-step at the thought. Her ability to affect men
had been Lilly’s proverbial albatross, and her neck ached from
carrying it all these years. “I’m not sure that will be
the case. I’ve tried transfusions before…” She
shrugged casually, not letting any of the joy pounding in her heart
escape. “…though that stuff
is
synthetic.”
She stared at her hands, unable to truly comprehend the possibility.

“
It’s
not like we could ask the docs how they thought it might work on a
Seraphelium.”

“
You’re
an ass, Thaegan.” Dallas turned back to Lilly. “Truth is,
I’m finding out new things all the time about how this stuff
affects me. I’m just not sure what it’s going to do in
your system. Sorry about that.”

“
Guess
it wouldn’t be the worst thing to happen to me if I had to take
down the bad guys with good old-fashioned police training.”

“
Yeah,
we wanted to talk with you about that too.” Dallas shot another
awkward look at Thaegan.

“
What
my partner is trying to say is that we’ve already got orders
for our next assignment.” The big alien stood and swung the
chair to the corner of the room.

Despite
the sudden joy of a moment ago, her heart splintered. Lilly had
barely spent any time with these men, yet she’d given them both
a part of herself she hadn’t allowed anyone to see. The thought
of them taking it away tore at the very fabric of her soul. “Wow,
that’s fast. I guess QAL must be anxious to put you two heroes
to work.”

“
Fuck
QAL,” Thaegan said. “They’ve done nothing but screw
us over for five years. We’re leaving them in our dust.”

Color
crept up Dallas’ cheeks again. “We’ve already got a
new assignment with a new agency and they’d like us to start as
soon as possible.”

“
Like
last week kind of soon.”

“
Shut
up, Thaegan.” Dallas furrowed his brow. “The fact is,
there’s not that much of a rush. They’ll wait as long as
we need them to—”

“
Sorry
Lilly, but we already accepted. They’re working out the details
as we speak,” Thaegan said. “But Dallas thought we needed
to talk to you—”

“
Seriously
Thaegan, shut the hell up.”

She
laid her hand over Dallas’ fingers, which hadn’t stopped
stroking her arm. “It’s all right. I’m sure I’ll
be out of here—”

Dallas
touched his lips to hers. Lilly lost herself in the sweet heat of his
mouth pressed so gently to hers. She blinked when he pulled away,
trying to stall her tears.

“
That
shut you up?” Thaegan laughed. “We’re going to have
to remember that, partner. When the woman gets out of hand, just kiss
her.”

She
looked from Dallas to Thaegan and back again, but no answers were
found in their expressions.

“
Tervoss’
head of security offered us a job. That’s the position we
accepted,” Dallas murmured.

It
made her feel better that Dallas didn’t sound all too
enthusiastic about it. “Sounds like a great job,” she
said tightly, not allowing the sadness burning in her throat to
betray itself.

“
See,
I told you she’d like it,” Thaegan said as he punched
Dallas’ arm. His enthusiasm eluded her.

“
So,
you’re okay that I accepted for all of us?” Dallas asked.
“Well, I mean, now that you seem to be out of danger, Thaegan
will head out first to join them. But I told them I’d hold on
for a week or so until you’re back on your feet and—”

“
You
don’t need to wait for me. If that blood does for me what I
witness with you, Dallas, I’ll be fine in no time.”
Actually, Lilly’s heart couldn’t bear to let the goodbyes
linger. Like a bandage removal, she wanted their departure to be
quick. “You go with Thaegan. The job sounds—” And
then she replayed in her head what Dallas had said.
Us
. “Wait,
what did you mean by
us
exactly?”

“
You,
me and Thaegan, Who else?” asked Dallas. “I tried to
negotiate without Thaegan, but seeing as he held down Bastower while
the man morphed through all versions of his Braugtot self, Tervoss’
security team thought he might be an asset.” He shot Thaegan a
mocking look. “Despite my best efforts, it seems we can’t
get away from including him in the deal.”

“
It’s
nice someone appreciates my talents,” Thaegan said.

Lilly
had barely heard a word beyond Dallas saying they wanted her as part
of their next assignment. “Me?” she asked quietly, afraid
to hope. “You want
me
on the team?”

“
Of
course we do.” Dallas smiled, his full lips curving up slow and
steady, his dimple dancing. “You’ve got a special touch
we couldn’t live without.”

The
physical and emotional pain forgotten, Lilly looked into the
chocolate depths of Dallas’ eyes and at the red skin of
Thaegan’s handsome face, seeing the truth of all they wanted
from her.

A
lover. A partner.
An equal
.

Exactly
what she’d always wanted as well.

Lilly
yawned absently, willing herself to show indifference rather than the
heart-pounding excitement surging through her veins. Not only had she
finally found a man who loved her exactly as she was, she’d
been doubly blessed with two. “Well, I guess if we
must
work together. Sounds like a done deal to me. Who am I to argue with
two of the Premier Commander’s finest?”

And
wasn’t she just about the luckiest woman in deep space?

The End

Glossary

* B
a’alkin
dagger *

Illegal on all planets except
Krystallos Three, but commonly sold on the black market. Its
unpredictable nature is due to the fact that it seeks out negative
emotions and is often deadly in inexperienced hands.

* Beta Mrenn *

Home planet of Ka’als.
Active volcanoes and lava pits dot the bare landscape. Only the
Ka’al’s mahogany skin make it possible for them to be out
in the intense sunlight. The planet is most active at night when most
other life forms can roam its crowded cities.

* Braugtot *

An alien that can take the shape
of any being. They are distinguished only by the tattoo on the side
of their face, which is unique like a fingerprint. In their natural
form, both males and females tend to resemble humans.

* Brenic *

A thick liquor made from the
fruit of the Tilada tree on Reigis Alpha. It is often added to
Regent’s ale to give the drink a higher alcohol content.

* Canus Delta *

A planet very similar to Earth in
the Nebulae Galaxy.

* Cochlear Translator *

Worn by most inhabitants in the
Nebulae Galaxy. It both records and translates conversations in the
wearer’s native language.

* Dallas Eight *

A frozen planet with ice caps.

* Drikspa *

An alien distinguished by its
horn-like boney structures on either side of their skulls,
chalky-white skin and red eyes. Females are both smaller in stature
and their boney structures aren’t as large as the males and
tend to lay flatter against the skull.

* Gall’s Blood *

Harvested from galls, an animal
similar to a cow and found on most planets. The blood is orange in
color and fermented for several years. It is both expensive and
contains a high alcohol content.

* Garalon Five *

Located in the Plaintar Quadrant,
it is too far from the galaxy’s sun to receive natural light,
it is lit only by its three moons.

* Hij’Rozhod *

Also known as
Mist of Death
.
The assassin responsible for the deaths of 14 government officials
who oppose the sex slave trade.

* Ickbata*

Small aliens with large snouts
and four limbs, each with three-three jointed appendages. Scaly skin
that is soft to the touch. They have jade eyes that sit high on the
head. Males and females are distinguished by the shape of their snout
and the odor they emit. Males smell like leather while the females
have a distinctive cinnamon scent.

* Ka’al *

Large aliens, males stand over
seven feet tall and females are well over six feet tall. Due to their
violent history, both sexes carry themselves like soldiers. Their
deep red skin protects them from the harsh sun of their home planet,
Beta Mrenn. They have flat noses lined with ridges and golden eyes.

* Krystallos Three *

Luna crystals, used to create
energy for all the planets of the Nebulae Galaxy are mined solely
from this planet. Large water purification plants located here supply
clean water for the galaxy. The deep underground caverns where the
mining is done has also created a ripe environment for an illegal sex
slave trade operated by several organized crime rings.

* Nebulae Galaxy *

Consists of a dozen planets with
a weak central star whose light doesn’t reach the outer
planets. Various life forms, including humans, inhabit all but three
of the planets.

* Pteran Omega *

A desert-like planet with a large
asylum for holding the criminally insane.

*
Q’orstan
Aerlheit Lunivarsium (QAL) *

The space equivalent of the FBI.

* Regent’s Ale *

A weak liquor made by fermenting
the plentiful grasses found on Reigis Alpha. Brenic, a thick liquor
made from the fruit of the Tilada tree is often added to the drink to
create a higher alcohol content.