stand several paces away from him. Her eyes met his. He didn’t like what her look did to him. Desire surged to his surface, hotter than an exploding Bravon sun. Electric fire snapped between them. He wanted to kiss her but had a feeling she would prefer to shoot him. An entire conversation happened in that one look without words ever needing to be spoken.
“Who is that woman?” Dev asked, before he could stop himself.
Evan glanced to where he indicated. “Captain Violette. Long story, but the short version is she’s not too happy with us. I’ll fill everyone in once we’re in orbit.”
Dev didn’t detect fear buried in the raw emotion swimming in Violette’s gaze, not even a glimmer of it. She looked too delicate to be so tough, and yet his years of training told him not to underestimate this woman.
“Walk straight,” Dev whispered gruffly, grabbing Evan’s arm and practically dragging him up the plank. They needed to get off the base, but more importantly, he needed away from that woman. He didn’t like the rush of emotion that filled him when he looked at her—curiosity, desire, protectiveness. He was a warrior always ready for battle, but even he could admit when it was best to retreat. “We don’t want to be stuck here waiting for the next chance to take off.”
Not for the first time since it happened, Dev thought of An’s curse. Evan’s destiny had been realized with Josselyn when they found her imprisoned in stone on an ice tundra of a dead moon. If that was simply fate or fulfillment of a prophecy, Dev didn’t know. What he did know is that he’d spent a lot of lonely nights trying to force any personal hope out of his head. And now, with one look, he was thinking she might be his element of earth as they were buried beneath the sand as their eyes met, or metal for the stretch of metal flooring that now separated them, or fire for the churning in her hot gaze and the feeling in his blood…
Or nothing. He was reaching for clues that were not there. She was nothing because men like him did not get to fall in love. His destiny lay in battle, in protecting others. He was a demon spawn after all, and who would want to love a demon?
A new alarm activated to interrupt his thoughts and break the spell of her impassioned gaze. The noise punctuated the clanking of metal against metal. The center column began to rise. Dev released Evan as they neared the top. Instantly the docking plank lifted to seal them inside the ship. And, as he glanced through the narrowing view as the door closed, he saw the woman still stared at him with her intense eyes. She nodded once before turning her back.
Fire, Dev thought, she is unquestionably fire.
Chapter 5
The Conqueror, Deep Space
“Evan and Josselyn.” Rick slid into his chair at the gaming table. They were in the common area of the ship where the crew gathered to socialize with each other. “I tell you. I knew Evan and Josselyn were going to hook up from the very first moment we rescued her from her pretty little prison statue. That’s why I held back with her. You know, so she didn’t get lost in all my charm.”
“What kind of device do you wish to hook Josselyn up to?” Dev asked, frowning. He shared a look with Jackson and Lochlann. Rick had a penchant for twenty-first century Old Earth memorabilia and sayings, and they couldn’t always translate what his expressions meant.
Rick sighed dramatically. “It is all torture and battle scars with you, isn’t it, Devekin? Don’t you ever think of anything else? For a hot-blooded guy, you’re not very—” Rick’s voice abruptly stopped as Dev stood from his chair. He held up his hands, laughing. “Easy, big fella. I’m only teasing.”
Rick was right about one thing. Evan had found his true love. That accursed prophecy was at work. Dev was sure of it. How else would Evan find Josselyn so soon after Zhang An’s curse?
With the newest addition of Josselyn Craven, there were eleven people on board the ship. Josselyn and Evan were in his chambers as she recovered from the last of her illness. Captain Jarek, his wife Mei, and their newborn son, Parker, passed most of their time in the captain’s quarters. Other than that, everyone else spent their days in the common area.
At times, eleven felt very crowded.