Diva (Jit'Suku Chronicles) (6 page)

The care packages kept coming, sometimes by special courier, which raised eyebrows among his unit, but John didn’t mind. He ignored all the speculation and lived for the small parcels she sent him from just about every stop she made on her tour.

If he’d harbored any doubts about her sincerity at all, they were long gone. Her letters and holos were intimate, though she never said anything too revealing, probably because she couldn’t be certain her parcel wouldn’t go astray. Still, John was touched by the things she wrote about and the new songs she sent to him. He lived for her letters and found himself writing in return, though he’d never been much of a correspondent before. Still, Maggie was an expert at making him do all sorts of things he’d never even thought of before. Why should this be any different?

“Mail call, Captain.” Jase, his XO, handed John a small packet containing a disc. It was from Maggie, and John just knew a shit-eating grin spread across his face as he stood from the table to head for his quarters and the private viewer there.

“How much you think he’s paying Diva’s fan club to send him those discs?” Pete, the smart-ass, joked.

Several of the other men laughed as they ate their chow, but John didn’t care. When Maggie sent him a disc, he knew it contained music she didn’t mean for others to hear—only him. She gifted him with her music, her voice, her innermost thoughts, and he loved her for it.

In the dark of space, when he began to regret the choices he’d made and what could never be, he remembered her words and her caring heart, and it gave him reason to go on. She might never know it, but she was the inspiration behind his actions. She drove him to be a better man than he was, to keep fighting the good fight to keep her, and the rest of humanity, safe from all threat of danger.

*

Months passed without much fanfare. After a few flare-ups on the rim that were easily dealt with, John and his unit came up for their annual leave. They were traveling back to Sol Sector for some well-earned R&R, but John was stopping off on Io Station for a Diva concert.

He was a little annoyed when his entire unit decided to tag along, but it couldn’t be helped. Enhanced soldiers had few friends and tended to hang out together, even when on leave. Most had little family to speak of, or they wouldn’t have taken the step of becoming Enhanced. Enhancement meant estrangement from most of humanity, and most of the troopers with family—mothers, fathers, brothers or sisters—usually didn’t sign up or were talked out of it.

So the Enhanced units were their own family of sorts. John couldn’t object to his men—his Enhanced brothers—tagging along for a concert he knew they would all enjoy. Hell, he even took them backstage for the reception after the show when Binki saw him and invited him back.

That raised quite a few eyebrows, and John felt proud that he could get a whole unit of men backstage at one of the most popular concerts in the galaxy. His men were impressed, he knew, though none of them said much. They were too busy drinking the free champagne and ogling the high-powered guests.

Maggie saw John standing a few feet away and lost her train of thought completely. She apologized to the ambassador she’d been speaking with and made a beeline for John.

Dimly, she realized he was flanked by several other huge men. Spec Ops warriors from his unit, she guessed, but it didn’t matter. Nothing mattered but John. Standing there. In the flesh. Smiling only for her.

Maggie launched herself into his arms and buried her face in his muscled neck as he squeezed her tight.

“You’re home!” she whispered, near tears with joy.

“I am now, Maggie mine.” John’s low words were for her alone, and she clutched them to her heart.

A flash went off, and suddenly, the men who’d stood immobile at John’s side sprang into action, surrounding John and Maggie and giving them a quiet perimeter of privacy in the crowded room. Somewhere in the distance, she heard the sounds of a scuffle and realized one of the big men with John had confiscated a recorder. There weren’t supposed to be any in this room to begin with, so he was perfectly within his rights. She’d have to thank him for that later, but right now, all that mattered was John.

She pulled back, intending to kiss him, then caught sight of the shocked faces around her. This was definitely not the place to show her one vulnerability. She didn’t want John subjected to media scrutiny or otherwise harassed because of her, and she knew it could happen all too easily. She’d very nearly blown it as it was.

Maggie disengaged her arms from around his neck, pulling back and allowing her Diva mask to slide firmly into place. She saw the look in John’s eyes change and hoped he understood.

“It’s so good to see you again, Captain.” Her voice was pitched so that a select few others around them would hear. She knew word would spread from there of just who and what this little scene was all about. “I thought you were stuck out on the rim for another year or more since you escorted me on that last tour.”

He let her slide down his hard body until her feet hit the floor, and he finally let her go. She missed his touch immediately.

“Just back for a week of R&R, ma’am. Along with my unit.” He gestured to the big men forming a perimeter all around them.

John could have wept when Maggie rushed him, jumping into his arms as if she belonged there. And she did. She felt so right, so good, so warm and womanly in his arms, he never wanted to let her go.

But Diva had responsibilities.

Maggie seemed to realize that about the same time he did. He actually felt her composing herself as she moved back from him, her eyes speaking a subtle message that he fully understood. They were in the public eye, and she had to be Diva, not Maggie.

John mourned the loss of the real woman but knew it was for the best. At least his men would stop kidding him now about those discs. To a man, they were eyeing him with new respect and a little bit of awe. And they eagerly lined up for introductions as he prepared to present them all to her.

“You must be PeeWee.” Diva shocked them all by stepping right up to PeeWee Jackson and giving him a peck on the cheek. “John told me there was a guy in his unit even bigger than him, but I didn’t believe it. Now I do.” She laughed, and everyone laughed with her. She had that kind of effect on people, and John could see his men were thoroughly charmed.

“And you’re Jase, right?” She moved on to his XO, flooring them all as she went down the line, guessing who was who with incredible acuity. She addressed them all by proper rank too, which impressed the hell out of the guys, and John knew a moment of pride when she thanked each and every one of them quietly for their service. Only he knew her father had been like them—a Spec Ops warrior willing to give his all that others might live free.

All told, Diva probably spent about fifteen minutes with the men from Unit G-18, but each minute was precious when John was in her company. Still, it wasn’t long enough to raise too many eyebrows, though her manager did come over to fetch her back to a long line of ambassadors. Just before she left, though, she reached up to kiss John on the cheek and whispered a question.

“Are you staying in the BOQ?” He nodded just slightly against her cheek. “I’m at the Imperial, under Maggie Smith. Come to me if you can, tomorrow for dinner, okay?” Again, he nodded, and then, she was gone.

“Hell, Captain, I owe you an apology.” Pete smiled at Diva’s back as they watched her walk away. “That’s one helluva woman, and she sure seems to like you.”

John only smiled. Pete really had no idea.

*

Maggie was nervous the next night. Dinner had been ordered and delivered in warming trays that would keep it fresh and ready until they sat down to eat. She wasn’t sure exactly what time to expect John, and waiting for him to arrive was wearing on her nerves.

She had two reasons she wanted to see him. First, she just wanted to be with him. If she didn’t know better, she’d say she was already deeply in love with him, but she also knew that just couldn’t be. They both had too many responsibilities elsewhere to allow the undeniable attraction between them to blossom fully.

The second reason was much more serious. She’d gained information that needed to be passed on right away, but her normal channels would take too long. John might be able to get the warning out in time, but she had to do it—somehow—without compromising her cover. She trusted John, but there were others in his chain of command she wasn’t too certain about. Still, the information had to be disseminated as quickly as possible.

The bell chimed.

Maggie jumped up and hit the switch that would slide the door open, and then, he was there. Right in front of her.

“John.”

Her whisper reached out to him, calling him inside the spacious hotel room. John swept through the doorway, aware of it closing behind him as he stepped right up to Maggie. The next move would have to be hers. John was nothing if not polite, and he didn’t want to take anything for granted.

“These are for you.” John offered her the bouquet of daisies. She had once told them they were her favorite flower—completely unpretentious and sweet. Just like her, he remembered thinking.

Maggie faced him, her eyes glistening as she took the flowers in one hand. So much was going on behind those beautiful eyes, he could tell from the way her delicate muscles twitched as she shifted from one dainty foot to the other.

Finally, she just reached out, plastering herself to his chest, the hand with the flowers settling at the small of his back, her other arm reaching up to circle his neck. God, she felt good in his arms. As far as John was concerned, she was right where she belonged, against him, her heart beating in time with his.

“I’ve missed you so much,” she whispered.

“I missed you too, Maggie, but your letters and discs kept me going.” He lowered his head, nuzzling her temple, then her ear as he spoke in soft tones. “I loved your holos and the descriptions of your trips. You made me feel like I was with you, instead of on the front lines, if only for just a little while. I can never thank you enough for that.”

“Oh, John.” She pulled him down for a kiss.

John wasn’t about to argue. He’d missed her taste, her softness, her sweet scent. He was a starving man thrust suddenly into a banquet of the senses, and he soaked her in. He kissed her long and hard, delicate at first, then blossoming into the hunger kept long banked beneath the surface. The flickering flame threatened to erupt into a conflagration, but John was careful to keep himself in check.

Nothing had changed since the last time they’d been together. Any relationship between them was still impossible. He was Enhanced. He could never have children, could never marry, really. It would be totally unfair to any woman to ask her to put up with his limitations, his obligations. Then, there was the fact that Diva was a galactic superstar. Why would such a woman tie herself, even temporarily, to a simple soldier?

But none of that really mattered as he held her in his arms for the first time in months. John kissed her and kissed her, reacquainting himself with her taste, her touch. She was like a drug he could never get enough of, but by damned, he was going to try. These few moments might be all he had with her, and he’d make the best of them.

He didn’t know how much time passed while they kissed, but John became aware slowly that he was holding Maggie about a foot off the ground. Her lithe little body was his to command as she returned his kiss with all her strength.

She raised no objection when he moved to the wide couch, stretching her out beneath him. He didn’t want to crush her, but he needed to feel her lying next to him. Just once more.

“I’ve thought about you every day since you left.” Her voice floated up to him as he loomed over her. She was so beautiful it almost hurt his eyes, but her beauty wasn’t just on the surface. It was soul deep.

“Me too, Maggie. I missed you more than I can say.”

“I’ve never felt like this before, John.” Her little hands clutched at his uniform shirt. “I know there are a million reasons why this couldn’t work, but my heart doesn’t care about a single one of them.”

He hugged her, shifting on the couch so that she lay next to him, her head cradled against his beating heart as his arms held her safe and warm along his flank. He stared up at the ornate ceiling, his thoughts racing, his heart lurching at her words.

“Ssh, sweetheart. It’s okay. I don’t know how we’ll get through this, but we will. We have to.”

She pushed up to meet his gaze. “You feel it too? John, please tell me I’m not alone in this.”

He lifted slightly to kiss her swollen lips. A gentle salute.

“You’re not alone, Maggie. You’ll never be alone as long as I live. No matter where I am, or where you are. I think…I think we’ll always be part of each other. I don’t understand it at all, but I know it’s true.”

“Oh, thank heaven.” She collapsed against him, her hands stroking over his chest in a soothing, yet arousing way. “John, I’ve been so uncertain, and that’s not at all like me.” She laughed softly, and he felt it in his bones. “There’s so much I’ve wanted to tell you, so much I couldn’t say, but—”

“No regrets, Maggie.” He put one finger over her lips and levered them both into a sitting position on the couch, side by side.

“I only have one regret, John.” She leaned in to kiss his chin, his jaw, his lips. “I regret never making love to you. I’ve thought about it every day since we parted. I’ve dreamed of you every night.”

Maggie felt a moment of triumph as John pulled her in close. She went willingly. Oh, so willingly!

“Not a day goes by that I don’t think of you, Maggie mine.” His gravelly voice whispered over her senses, firing her passion higher.

“Make love to me, John. I want to have real memories instead of just dreams.”

John kissed her deeply, standing from the couch with her draped in his arms. She was thrilled by the massive strength of his body as he carried her through the suite toward her bedroom. Shouldering open the door, he went in and then deposited her on the soft bed.