"You okay, baby?"
Biting his lip, he nodded. "Seeing stars."
She laughed as she slowly rode him.
Bastien lifted his hips, driving himself even deeper into her body. Every molecule was on fire as pleasure dug its heels into him. This was where he wanted to stay for eternity.
And when she sank her nails into his back and kissed his lips, he couldn't contain himself anymore. He came in a blinding wave.
Luckily she followed with him.
Breathless, he held her, waiting for his heart rate to slow. "I thought I was in trouble, there, for a minute."
She lifted his chin until their gazes locked. "You almost were. But I would have forgiven you ... this time."
"That's not what I want you to forgive me for, Elskamun."
Ember choked on a sob at his use of her old nickname that he'd given her years ago.
He dropped his gaze to the stretch marks on her abdomen that were left behind from birthing their son. "I wish I could have been with you."
"You didn't miss much. I cursed you the entire time. And your parents and ancestors."
Grinning, he leaned to kiss her belly. "I'm warning you now that if I survive taking down Barnabas, I'm going to ask you to marry me again."
"Bas--"
He broke her words off with another kiss. "It's okay, Elskamun. You can say no, but you can't stop me from asking."
She started to speak, but the alarms on the fighter went off. "What's that?"
Bastien scowled at the panel. "Shit! Someone has their cannons locked on us. That's their targeting system. We're about to be blasted."
CHAPTER 11
Squeaking at the fact that she was still naked and they were under attack, Ember grabbed at her clothes and hurriedly dressed.
Bastien attempted to reach his controls to engage, but because of her movements, it was impossible. In fact, she accidentally elbowed him in the eye as he tried. Cursing, he covered it as it watered uncontrollably.
"Sorry!" Her heart hammered in panic.
"Drop your shields, Sentella. Give us your mission parameters. Now!"
The light in Bastien's eyes said that he was about to tell them where to shove their orders.
But she knew that deep, irritating voice. At least she thought she did.
Ember caught his hands as he reached for the communications and pulled them away from the controls. Making sure to keep the video off, she turned on hailing.
"Badger? Is that you?"
Static answered at first. It stretched out until she was ready to let Bastien blast them in case she was wrong.
Until she finally heard a hesitant answer. "Wildstar?" he asked in disbelief.
Grateful that voice did indeed belong to her Badger, she breathed a sigh of relief. "Yeah, knock off the target locks. What are you doing this far out?"
"Making a run and headed home. Why are you onboard a Sentella fighter?"
"Headed to see my boy. This was the only ride available."
As typical, Badger wasn't quick to accept her answers. "Why am I showing two people, then?"
"I have a friend with me."
"Friend have a name?" That man was ever suspicious. He never took anything at face value. Not that she blamed him, given his past. She had trust issues herself, but he took them to a whole new level of ridiculous.
"G. G."
"G. G. Sentella?"
Dear Lord, Badger was worse than a dog after its favorite bone. Hence the call sign they'd dubbed him with. He could have easily been employed as a League interrogator.
"No, he borrowed the ship."
"Borrowed, or stole?"
Ember bit back a groan at his endless inquisition. Seriously, they all wanted to beat him at times when he started doing this. But then, when you wanted to annoy someone, he was definitely the man to call, for he did it well. And with panache.
Worse?
He actually enjoyed watching people's temples begin to throb.
"Own," Bastien said to her.
Ember didn't bother repeating that to Badger, as it would raise his suspicion levels even more. "Borrowed. And no, he doesn't have a blaster trained on me. There's no need in being alarmed. Drop your weapons. It's all good here."
"Then why's there no video?"
Bastien quirked a playful smile. "Yeah, Wildstar. Why's there no video?"
"Shut up, both of you! Badger, stop being a knoettr. I swear to the gods ... it has to be genetic!"
"What?" Bastien and Badger asked simultaneously, thus proving her point.
Ember barely caught her slip before she exposed something she knew would piss Badger off to no end. They needed to get on the ground before that bomb was detonated.
Closing her shirt as quickly as she could, she turned around in the seat and took over communications.
"Take the lead, Badge. Get us home."
"Fine. Do your sisters know you're headed in?"
"Cutting the comm, now." She flipped it off and let out a frustrated sigh.
One not helped as she realized how tense Bastien was. "What's wrong with you?"
He fell into that horrible quiet that only came whenever he was seething about something. "Badger your boyfriend?"
Was he serious? She couldn't believe he'd even ask that. Let alone be so pissy about it.
How dare he!
"You better be glad you have your helmet back on. Otherwise, I'd be tempted to slap you for that."
"Why?"
"Obviously, I don't have a boyfriend. If I had, I wouldn't have just had sex with you! Saint Jake, Bastien! That's your territory, not mine!"
He bristled at that. "I've never in my life cheated on someone! You know that better than anyone!"
She did, and it was a sore topic for him, as he'd been accused of it repeatedly. Not just by the press, but by his own family. And apparently Alura, too. It was what had made them so good together. Her worst fear had been a cheating boyfriend, and he would never cheat because he couldn't stand being blamed for it.
Not to mention, he'd seen the damage cheating had caused for his parents. And while he'd loved his father, that had always been a very, very touchy subject for them. In fact, Bastien had been arrested in his late teens for assaulting his father when he'd first learned of it--it was what had caused him to be sent into the military.
After Bastien had lifted a skimmer that belonged to a friend's parents, his father had shown up with his mistress to bail Bastien out. His mother thought Bastien's enlistment had resulted from the theft.
Neither of them had ever told her the real reason. His father because he'd always lied to her about his affairs. Bastien because he'd have sooner died in war than hurt his mother in any way. Which made no sense, as his death would have been the worst tragedy of all for her.
But Bastien's thoughts had only been on sparing his mother's feelings, any way he could. It was why he'd always been her favorite child.
Ember sighed. "Sorry." She sighed as she thought over everything she'd learned about him. "Did my sister really accuse you of having an affair with me?"
He growled low in his throat. "You. My sister. Hell, she'd even speculated I was sleeping with the pool boy."
She burst out laughing at the thought. "Seriously?"
"Oh yeah. She was convinced I was chasing everything that moved. Female. Male. Fluffy bunnies. Even pack animals. If it breathed, she accused me of jumping into bed with it."
She shook her head at Alura's stupidity. "Again, sorry."
"It's all right. Besides, I aggravated her suspicions out of principle."
"Meaning?"
He laughed evilly. "During one of her more stellar tirades, I asked if she'd mind me having a three-way with Cinder and Tasi."
Oh, that had to have been rich. Ember could hear the screams in her mind. "You didn't!"
By the sound of his voice, she knew he was still grinning. "You know me better than to ask that question."
Of course she did.
And o
f course, he did. It was a vintage Bastien move. Why just aggravate a situation when you could annihilate it and bomb it up a few levels?
"Your mouth has always gotten you into more shit, Cabarro."
"I know. Can't help myself. I have this moment of reason where my inner sense tells me to bite my tongue. Then my 'fuck-it list' kicks in and I'm doomed." He cleared his throat. "By the way, your jacket's not fastened properly. You might want to fix that before we land."
Looking down, she cursed as she realized he was right. "Thank you for noticing."
"There's nothing about you I don't notice."
Her brow shot north as she felt him growing hard against her hip again. "You cannot be ready for another go 'round. Surely..."
"Elskamun, you have no idea. All I have to do is catch a whiff of your scent and I swear I could hammer in a nail with what you cause down there."
"Hammer a nail? I might test that theory later."
"Again, don't tease me."
Oh yeah, there was no missing the way his voice deepened. Or how much she'd missed japing with him like this.
Ember fell silent while they followed after Badger, and noted what Bastien was doing. "He won't turn you in, you know."
"Pardon?"
She inclined her head to where he was entering notes into the fighter's system. "That's why you're logging his serial on the ship and its markings, is it not?"
When Bastien answered, he kept his tone flat and even. "Doing my due diligence. Wanted to know what and who I was dealing with."
"He's DR. What more do you need to know?"
"What he is to you."
She leaned back so that she could stare up into Bastien's face. He had the shield lightened on his helmet so that she could smirk at the suspicion in his eyes. "He's a pesky little brother who's like a father to your son, so play nice even if he is a member of the outlawed Dread Reckoning."
Bastien ground his teeth as a fierce wave of jealousy went through him over those words. "Father?"
"Don't even get that look on your face, Bastien Cabarro. He's Tasi's cousin, who was orphaned young and raised like her brother, and they were very kind to take Rian in for me. We owe them a debt of gratitude."
But the surly expression on his face said the only thing he wanted to give Badger was a kick in the ass.
"You will love him when you meet him."
"Doubtful."
She tsked at him. "Careful with those absolutes ... they have a nasty way of coming back to bite you."
He scoffed at her words and remained churlish until they landed on the small outpost where the leader of the Dread Reckoning made her home--or at least as close to a leader as the DR came. Which wasn't saying much. It basically meant Tasi's mother was the nastiest of them all.
Inside the fortified bay, Ember climbed out of the fighter first.
Bastien was much slower, especially once he saw Badger heading for her. Dressed in his all-black Armstitch suit, Badger was almost as handsome as Bastien. But he lacked that je ne sais quoi that Bastien had mastered from the cradle. Something about Cabarro was infectious and charismatic.
And she was grateful every day that their son had inherited that trait from his father. Even if it did lead the boy astray from time to time.
Just like Bastien.
Eerily quiet as he tagged along behind her, Bastien had that tenseness to his body like a coiled spring while he approached Badger. It usually heralded an ass-beating for whatever male had caused it.
Wanting to head it off, fast, before it exploded into something deadly, Ember gave Badger a hug and whipped his helmet off so that she could kiss his dark, whiskered cheek.
Bastien froze the moment he made eye contact with the young man. His breath left him as if he'd been sucker-punched. And that's exactly what it felt like as he stared into eyes that were an identical match for his.
And his father's.
More than that, while Badger's features were similar enough to Bastien's, they were identical to Quin's. It was like staring into the face of his brother's twin, especially since Quin hadn't been much older than this kid when Barnabas had murdered him.
Ember stepped back. "Iskander Zeki, meet Bastien Cabarro."
Fuck me ...
Zeki ... he should have known. That had been the unmarried name of the bitch his father had run around with for years. The same woman who'd been with his father when Bastien was arrested his last year of university.
Even now, he could see her standing behind his father in that sterile office when he'd shown up to bail him out. Never in his life had he been angrier.
And this was their offspring....
Recognition flared in Badger's eyes a moment before he let fly an audible curse that matched the silent one in Bastien's head, and started away from them.
"Badger!" Ember barked as she pulled him to a stop. "Don't you dare leave here."
"I've got nothing to say to them, and you of all people know it."
"Bastien had nothing to do with your father's actions. It was Newell's choice to walk away from you when you were a child. And right now, neither of you has enough family left for you to be assholes to the only brother you have."
Indecision played across Iskander's dark brow. It was an expression so close to the one Quin had whenever he was perplexed or undecided that it sent a chill down Bastien's spine.
There was no doubt in his mind that they were brothers, just as she'd said.
Unbelievable.
This was the last thing he'd expected, and it ranked right up there with his unknown son. What other surprises did Ember have in store for him? At this point, he was getting punch drunk from being slapped in the head with them.
Stunned and unsure of how to proceed, Bastien stepped forward. "I don't know what went on between you and my fath--"
"Our father," Iskander corrected between clenched teeth. "Though he wasn't much of one to me, for damn sure. I never saw him again after my mother died."
Bastien held his hands up. "I meant no slight with that. Slip of the tongue, mate. I would never insult you that way."
Iskander scoffed and rolled his eyes.
Damn, he was hostile. But then Bastien did the math in his head ... Odile had died during his first year in the military. Given Iskander's present age ... A bad feeling went through him. "How old were you when she passed away?"
"You mean when she was murdered and I was left as an orphan? Seven. Barely."
No wonder he was pissed off. Bastien couldn't blame him, and he didn't understand how his father could have done that to him. So much for all the lectures his dad had given him on taking responsibility.
There was no way he'd have ever abandoned a child of his.
"Icky! Mama!"
Bastien scowled at that high-pitched squeal that was followed by the sound of a heavy, slapping footfall of a boy around the age of nine who came running across the bay like a frazzled blur. It wasn't until he launched himself into Ember's arms that Bastien realized the boy hadn't said "Icky Mama," but rather had been calling out to Iskander and Ember.
Disbelief filled him for the second time since he landed as he stared at the small, dark blond boy whose hazel eyes matched his and Badger's.
It'd been one thing to see his son in pictures. In the flesh ...
Bastien had no grip on this moment. Dropping his helmet to the ground, he went to the boy and Ember, and wrapped his arms around the two of them and held them tight. All he wanted to do was keep them there for the rest of eternity.
Ember couldn't breathe due to Bastien's crushing embrace. Still, she sank her hand into his unbound hair and held him while he kept Florian wedged between their bodies.
"I. Can't. Breathe!" Florian growled as he struggled for freedom like a fish that had been dumped on land.
Bastien refused to let them go.
"Mama! Help! I'm being molested! Stranger danger! This is making me uncomfortable!"
She laughed at her son's misery. He was so tall now that th
e top of his head reached her chin, but he barely reached mid-chest on Bastien. "He's your father, Ri. Give him a moment to hold you."
Florian stopped moving instantly as his jaw went slack. He leaned his head back to stare up at Bastien. "Papa?"
Bastien cupped Florian's head in his hands. The anguish and love on those chiseled features brought tears to her eyes and reminded her of his face when he'd learned his family was dead. That restrained agony that wrung her heart. This was the man she'd fallen in love with. Irritating. Hostile. Reckless. Capable.
But most of all, he was loving to the depths of his soul. Bastien never did anything halfway.
He loved as he lived. With a breakneck speed that was impossible to keep up with.
His lips trembling, he smiled proudly. "Hi, Florian."
Florian looked from Bastien to her and back again. "Mom never told me you were gigantic."
Bastien laughed. "Not as big as my Andarion friends or my cousins, but I was taller than my brother."
Iskander scoffed. "Not as tall as I am. Nor as muscled. And I'm the youngest."
Ember slapped him playfully on his hard, muscled abdomen. "Now, now, no jealousy!"
"I was just saying..."
She rolled her eyes at that Cabarro competitive spirit.
Bastien ignored them as he tried to think of something to say to his son. Love, pride, disbelief, and fear tangled inside him, leaving him speechless.
What did someone say to a half-grown kid they didn't know they had?
"It's an honor to meet you." Even Bastien cringed at the stupidity of that statement. Why don't you ask his age and remind him of all the years you've missed while you're at it?
Great intro ... moron.
Florian laughed. Then he reached up to touch the cleft in Bastien's chin. "Everyone says I take after you. I do, don't I?"
"God, I hope not." Bastien grinned. "'Cause if you do, your mother has a whole other reason for wanting me dead."
Her features softened. "You have no idea. Curse you at least three to four dozen times a day."
"Oh my God! Bastien!" That shriek was even more ear-piercing.
Turning, he saw Tasi, Cin, and Brand as they came running.
And grabbed him into hugs so fierce, they almost knocked him over. It was like being dragged under by a riptide.
But he loved it too much to complain.
"We thought you were dead!" Tasi balled her hand in his hair and held him close as she rained kisses over his face.
"I saw The League report where you'd been killed!" Brand pulled Tasi away so that she could hug him.