Return to Dark Earth (10 page)

Nera almost lost her footing. She leapt up
onto a flat part of the structure and looked down at him. “Are you
flirting with me?”

“I don’t flirt.”

She was pretty sure he was flirting. She
tilted her head, considering him. She didn’t think anyone had ever
flirted with her. Most people were too afraid of her. Although, she
guessed the little cat-and-mouse game she and Niklas had been
playing the last few years might qualify. “Sexy is you without a
shirt on.”

He went very still.

“Your muscle tone is unexpected in a man who
enjoys books and e-records as much as you—”

“Nera—” His voice sounded a little
choked.

“And that light dusting of dark hair on your
chest is very attractive.”

He made a sound like a growl. “Nera.”

She couldn’t control her smile. This was
kind of fun. “You started it.”

He opened his mouth to respond, but suddenly
the ground started shaking.

“Earthquake!” he shouted.

Nera lost her footing. She didn’t panic,
even as adrenaline surged into her system. She rode the beam down
to the point where it was sheared off, then leapt out into the air.
She hung there for a second, could hear Niklas cursing.

She grabbed another beam, her fingers
curling around the length of metal. She swung around the beam like
a space circus performer, and ended up with her hips pressed to the
beam.

But the shaking continued. She wasn’t going
to be able to hold on. She slid off, dangling from one hand. And
her tenuous grip was slipping.

She looked down and saw Niklas running
toward her. A huge metal beam crashed to the sand, just missing
him.

Her fingers slipped even more. She’d
probably survive the drop…but it would hurt. And she’d break a few
things.

Nera fumbled for her grappler, the trusty
tool of every treasure hunter. She snatched the device off her
belt.

Her fingers slipped off the beam and she
fell.

“Nera!”

She blocked out Niklas’ shout. She aimed the
grappler, focusing on the sturdy beam far above her head. She shot
out the grappling line.

The thin, ultra-strong line whizzed out with
a quiet ticking noise. She kept falling, the ground rushing
closer.

Then the grappler hook hit the beam.

Her fall was stopped with a sharp jerk. She
hung there for a second, then the grappler retracted and she zoomed
upward.

Once she pulled herself safely onto the
beam, she sat there for a second to catch her breath.

Belatedly, she noticed the earthquake had
stopped.

Niklas stood below, his face stark, his
hands on his hips. “You okay?”

She nodded.

“Come down. Now.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. He didn’t
often put on that autocratic, bossy tone, and it should grate on
her. She would
never
take orders from anyone ever again. But
somehow, with him, it was different.

She shimmied down the beam, walked across
another, and then when she was low enough, she jumped down to the
black sand.

In an instant, strong arms engulfed her,
yanking her in to a hard chest. Her face was pressed against his
shirt.

“Don’t do that again.” His voice was
raspy.

“I am not responsible for an earthquake,
Niklas.”

“Just… Be quiet. Let me hold you.”

So she did. Because he seemed to need it.
She let herself relax into the solid warmth of him. She liked it.
Most of all, she liked the fact that he cared whether or not she
lived or died.

Yelling from the bottom of the dune had them
pulling apart.

One of the Institute security team was
jogging toward them.

“What’s going on?” Niklas asked.

“Solomon. Quake knocked him off the
structure he was exploring and it opened up a huge chasm in the
earth below him. He’s going to fall into it any second if someone
doesn’t help him. I’m headed back to the ship now to get help.” The
man took off at a run.

But Nera read what the man wasn’t saying.
Solomon didn’t have that long.

“Come on.” Niklas jogged down the dune. Nera
followed.

They passed Gunn trudging back up the
slope.

“Where are you going?” Niklas demanded.

Gunn scowled. “I’m hungry. Time for a
snack.” He ignored Nera.

“That man needs your help.” Niklas stabbed a
finger to where they could see Solomon’s lean body was dangling
from a beam. As they watched, the beam slipped a little bit
farther, dropping him toward the huge, cavernous hole beneath.

Gunn shrugged and turned away. “Not my
problem. I’m not risking my neck for anyone.”

Icy rage slid through Nera’s veins. “Don’t
you mean, you’d like to reduce the number of people the e-creds are
divided by?”

A snake-like grin. “There’s that, too.”

Nera wrinkled her nose like she’d sniffed
something bad. “Coward
and
an asshole. How shocking.”

Gunn’s jaw tightened. He looked like he
wanted to confront her, but they both knew he was too afraid of
her. He stomped up the hill.

Niklas reached the edge of the chasm first.
“Holy shit.”

That was putting it mildly. A ragged gash
had opened up in the dark sand, like some sort of horrible gaping
maw.

He peered in. “I can’t see a bottom.”

Not good.
She eyed the young treasure
hunter dangling above. He was holding on, but his face was
strained.

“Hang on, Solomon,” Niklas called out.
“We’ll get you down.”

The younger man nodded, but as the beam
slipped some more, his body swung, one hand sliding off. Nera held
her breath. He tried to reach up a few times and finally caught the
beam again, managing to get a better grip.

“Ideas?” she asked.

“That beam there below him looks pretty
sturdy.” Niklas pointed to a partly twisted length of steel. “I
could climb out, get him to drop down and grab him.”

The beam didn’t look sturdy at all. “It
won’t hold the weight of both of you.”

Solomon cried out, the beam slipping
again.

“He doesn’t have much longer,” Niklas said
grimly.

She eyed the chasm, and the ruins around it.
“I’ve got a better idea. But I need your help to make it
happen.”

He didn’t hesitate. “Tell me.”

“I’m going to use the grappler and shoot it
over another beam. That one above Solomon’s head. Then I’ll swing
over, grab Solomon, and swing back. I need you to hold the grappler
at this end.”

A muscle ticked in Niklas’ jaw. “It’s
risky.”

She tensed, waiting for the usual stupid
male response about him being the one who should swing over.

“Risky,” he repeated, “but it should
work.”

A warm glow filled her insides, but she
shook it off. Now wasn’t the time to moon over Niklas Phoenix.

“Hey,” Solomon called out. “I hate to break
up your little party over there, but if you guys are going to do
something, now’s the time.”

“Okay, let’s do it,” Nera said.

She stood right at the edge of the chasm,
and aimed the grappler toward the beam above Solomon’s head. Niklas
waited beside her. She took a deep breath and fired.

The line whizzed up and over the beam. She
pressed a button that sent the grappling hook zooming right back
toward her.

Niklas reached out and nabbed it. He handed
it to her. “Hook it onto your belt.”

She shot him a wry look as she clipped the
hook to her belt. “I have done this a time or two.” She handed the
grappler to him. Now he held one end of the line, while the other
end was tied to her.

“Always wondered what it would be like to
have you tied up,” he said.

She went still. “Really?”

“It only seems fair. You’ve tied me up a
time or two.” He leaned in close. “But I like you free to use those
clever hands of yours.”

She turned her head. “Young treasure hunter
to rescue, remember?”

Niklas touched a gloved finger to her jaw,
then with a nod, he stepped back. “Be careful while you do your
thing.”

Nera took a few steps back, gripped the
line, then ran forward and pushed off. She swung across the hole
below, air rushing past her face, and a second later slapped into
Solomon.

He cursed, his hands slipping.

Nera already had her arms wrapped around his
lean waist. “Hold on to me.”

His arms clamped around her. “Never in a
hundred years would I have expected to have my arms around Nera
Darc.”

“Don’t expect it again,” she warned him.

His face paled. “Right.”

She got a foot against the beam and pushed
off. As they swung back toward Niklas, she saw the beam fall away
completely. As it fell into the hole, she heard a loud crash.

Nera and Solomon reached the edge.

“Release!” Niklas shouted.

She touched the hook on her belt.

They dropped. Nera crashed to the ground
with Solomon. She heard the young treasure hunter groan.

“Nera? You all right?” Niklas appeared. He
pressed a hand to her shoulder.

She nodded and sat up.

He smiled. “Nice moves.”

Her lips twitched. “Thanks.”

“Jonas, you okay?” Niklas helped the young
man sit.

Solomon hissed out a breath, wrapping his
arms around his middle. “Broken ribs, but nothing
life-threatening.” His green gaze met Niklas’ before moving to
Nera. “Thank you. I was going to end up lunch for whatever the hell
was down in that hole. I wouldn’t have made it without your
help.”

Niklas frowned. “Something’s down in the
chasm?”

Solomon nodded, and with Niklas’ assistance,
got to his feet. “Yeah. There were shadows moving around. I
couldn’t make out what they were, but I saw them…and heard some
weird noises.”

Niklas stepped closer to the edge, his boots
sending sand skittering over into the hole. Nera stepped up beside
him.

“I don’t see anything,” Niklas said.

She didn’t either, but that didn’t mean
something wasn’t there.

Shouts and voices filled the air. They both
turned and saw Avril, Agent Ryant, and a small team of Institute
security agents, running down the hill.

“Institute arrives after all the action,”
Nera said. “As always.”

Niklas put a hand on Jonas’ shoulder. “Come
on, kid, let’s get you back to the ship and patched up.”

Nera watched Niklas help the young man up
the slope. He was the complete opposite of Alexei Gunn. She’d
always believed not getting involved in other people’s business was
the best course of action. But Niklas and his brothers seemed to
jump in where they shouldn’t all the time. All in order to do the
right thing.

She followed the two men up the hill.

***

Nik pressed the hail button beside Nera’s
cabin door. He rubbed his butt where he’d gotten his latest
anti-radiation injection. It appeared the antidote does hurt a
little more when used too closely together. He’d left Solomon
confined to a bed in the medbay, where his broken ribs were
knitting under the med scanner.

A few seconds later, the cabin door slid
open and he stepped inside. It was a mirror image of his cabin.
Spacious, compared to most ships its size. Nera stood in the center
of the room, clad only in tight black leggings and a tight tank
that showed off her toned arms. She was sparring with a
spar-droid.

If the droid had been human, it would have
been crying with pain by now.

Niklas happily leaned against the wall to
wait for her to finish. She was a pleasure to watch. She moved in
such a smooth, liquid way, flowing into the fight like she’d been
born doing it.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

She bounced on the spot. “Yes.” Then she
landed a vicious punch at the droid’s head. “Imagining my robotic
friend here is Gunn, and I’m burning off the last of the adrenaline
from our trip.”

“Gunn is scum,” Nik agreed.

“That’s one word to describe him.” She
landed a front kick, making the droid rock.

Nik winced. “What’s eating you?”

“I’m like Gunn.”

That made Nik push himself away from the
wall. As he neared her, she spun to face him. She smelled like
warm, healthy perspiration. No fancy scents for Nera. A few strands
of her platinum hair were stuck to her temples.

“You are nothing like Gunn.”

“Sorry to disappoint, but I look out for
myself. Always.” Something moved through her eyes. She stepped
closer until their chests bumped.

Nik made a scoffing noise. “That’s just what
you let everyone think.” He leaned down until their noses briefly
touched. “I saw you on your knees, digging through the sand to help
me save Dathan. You gave me what my cousin needed to save an entire
planet. And all you’ve ever asked for is a few favors from me…which
you’ve never called in.”

Nera rose up and bit his lip. “Maybe it’s
time I called in one of those favors?”

God
. Heat shot straight to his
cock.

“How about we burn off the adrenaline
another way?” she murmured.

So many temptations right there. Her
colorful eyes seemed to swirl with heat. But Nik knew he wanted
more. It almost killed him to force the word out. “No.”

She stiffened, as if he’d slapped her.
“Years of dancing around this, and now you say no?” She turned
away.

He grabbed her arm and yanked her back, his
face an inch from hers. “Not like this. Not to shake off a bad
moment, or to work out the excess hormones racing through your
bloodstream.”

“Isn’t that what attraction is, just a bunch
of hormones? A biological imperative.”

He shook her a little. “When we do this—and
we
will
do this—it’s going to be just you and me.” He let
his gaze roam her magnificent face. “I want you, Nera. More than
I’ve wanted anything in my life. You’ve pushed, pulled, teased,
taunted… It’s only ever been you.”

Her lips parted. “Niklas…”