Chapter One
Sydney didn’t need to turn around to see who’d entered her bedroom. She’d become so in tune with Jack over the past weeks she could feel his presence without having visual contact with him.
“You were quiet over dinner tonight.” Jack closed the door behind him and the loud click which followed indicated he’d locked it.
As he drew closer, her breath came out in quick stilted bursts. She found it disconcerting how easily he affected her by simply being close. Jack dropped his hands on her shoulders and nuzzled the side of her neck.
With a sigh, she leaned against the hard wall of his six foot three frame, but kept her eyes on the starry sky outside the window. “I guess I had a lot on my mind,” Sydney finally answered.
“You must, otherwise, you would have yelled at me for not knocking as you normally do.”
A small smile tugged the corners of her lips. He was right. Jack was capable of taking her through many emotions all at once: anger, annoyance, happiness, jealousy, and pure unadulterated lust. Sydney prided herself on being able to control her emotions in most situations, but Jack made that impossible. Her uncertainty of how she felt for him often made her lash out when there was no cause for it and she wanted to hate him for it, but she couldn’t.
He kneaded the tense knot in the back of her neck. “Do you want to talk about it?”
Her head lolled bonelessly back and forth. “Mmm, that feels wonderful. Don’t stop. You have magic hands.”
6
Jack gripped her shoulders and turned Sydney around to face him. “You’re avoiding my question. You might feel better if you get it off your chest.” How could she tell him, even though they were going to partake in what would probably be the most important meeting of their lives tomorrow morning, all she could think about was how he made her feel? She didn’t think she was ready to let him know how much he’d gotten under her skin. “It’s nothing. I guess I’m anxious about the summit. It’s one thing to create a plan, but it’s quite another to act on it.”
“I know what you mean. If the other groups come to an agreement…” She closed her eyes against the implication of his statement. Not long ago she’d had a comfortable life and was starting a new job which she thought would get her places. Unfortunately, Sydney hadn’t known the place would be here on the outskirts of the city, or that she’d be labeled a criminal because of it. “Then it’s war.” Jack nodded with a grimace. From the concern she saw etched on his chiseled face he was worried about what would happen as well, but Sydney knew he wouldn’t admit it. He was the type of man to suffer in silence while remaining strong for those in his charge. It was a trait she admired in him. “It’s quite possible we could lose some men, but it’s the price of freedom.”
She nibbled her bottom lip for a brief moment, her mind processing this inevitability. “You’re right. If we don’t act now, there’s no telling what the Cyrellians will do next. According to Dar, they were outlawed from his galaxy years ago for exploiting planets in the guise of helping them, as they have with Earth. The only difference is, Earth is the only planet with intelligent life in the Milky Way. We don’t have the advantage of being surrounded by neighboring planets with inhabitants to warn us.”
“Exactly. We were the perfect targets for them. Dar mentioned he’d heard about their attempt to blow up another planet in a different galaxy. That leads me to believe they’ll try the same with us once they’ve taken all they can from us.”
“You do realize there’ll be a lot of opposition. Some people may not be ready to hear the truth about the so-called saviors. I’m a prime example. When Holly tried to
7
dissuade me from taking the job at Cryo Cor, I wouldn’t listen, because at the time I believed the Cyrellians to be good guys.”
“Probably not, but with the
Sydney didn’t need to turn around to see who’d entered her bedroom. She’d become so in tune with Jack over the past weeks she could feel his presence without having visual contact with him.
“You were quiet over dinner tonight.” Jack closed the door behind him and the loud click which followed indicated he’d locked it.
As he drew closer, her breath came out in quick stilted bursts. She found it disconcerting how easily he affected her by simply being close. Jack dropped his hands on her shoulders and nuzzled the side of her neck.
With a sigh, she leaned against the hard wall of his six foot three frame, but kept her eyes on the starry sky outside the window. “I guess I had a lot on my mind,” Sydney finally answered.
“You must, otherwise, you would have yelled at me for not knocking as you normally do.”
A small smile tugged the corners of her lips. He was right. Jack was capable of taking her through many emotions all at once: anger, annoyance, happiness, jealousy, and pure unadulterated lust. Sydney prided herself on being able to control her emotions in most situations, but Jack made that impossible. Her uncertainty of how she felt for him often made her lash out when there was no cause for it and she wanted to hate him for it, but she couldn’t.
He kneaded the tense knot in the back of her neck. “Do you want to talk about it?”
Her head lolled bonelessly back and forth. “Mmm, that feels wonderful. Don’t stop. You have magic hands.”
6
Jack gripped her shoulders and turned Sydney around to face him. “You’re avoiding my question. You might feel better if you get it off your chest.” How could she tell him, even though they were going to partake in what would probably be the most important meeting of their lives tomorrow morning, all she could think about was how he made her feel? She didn’t think she was ready to let him know how much he’d gotten under her skin. “It’s nothing. I guess I’m anxious about the summit. It’s one thing to create a plan, but it’s quite another to act on it.”
“I know what you mean. If the other groups come to an agreement…” She closed her eyes against the implication of his statement. Not long ago she’d had a comfortable life and was starting a new job which she thought would get her places. Unfortunately, Sydney hadn’t known the place would be here on the outskirts of the city, or that she’d be labeled a criminal because of it. “Then it’s war.” Jack nodded with a grimace. From the concern she saw etched on his chiseled face he was worried about what would happen as well, but Sydney knew he wouldn’t admit it. He was the type of man to suffer in silence while remaining strong for those in his charge. It was a trait she admired in him. “It’s quite possible we could lose some men, but it’s the price of freedom.”
She nibbled her bottom lip for a brief moment, her mind processing this inevitability. “You’re right. If we don’t act now, there’s no telling what the Cyrellians will do next. According to Dar, they were outlawed from his galaxy years ago for exploiting planets in the guise of helping them, as they have with Earth. The only difference is, Earth is the only planet with intelligent life in the Milky Way. We don’t have the advantage of being surrounded by neighboring planets with inhabitants to warn us.”
“Exactly. We were the perfect targets for them. Dar mentioned he’d heard about their attempt to blow up another planet in a different galaxy. That leads me to believe they’ll try the same with us once they’ve taken all they can from us.”
“You do realize there’ll be a lot of opposition. Some people may not be ready to hear the truth about the so-called saviors. I’m a prime example. When Holly tried to
7
dissuade me from taking the job at Cryo Cor, I wouldn’t listen, because at the time I believed the Cyrellians to be good guys.”
“Probably not, but with the
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