Undercover

Chapter 1

People scurried out of the way, keeping their eyes down as Sera Ayers stalked into the squat, gray building on the outskirts of the city. Single-mindedly, she made her way through the myriad nondescript hallways at the Federation United Forces. Anger coursed through her as she walked, her boots sounding a muffled thud, thud, thud on the laminate floors.

Halting at the subcommander’s door, she slammed a fist into it several times. Her hand hurt, but she felt a bit better for the small violence of it.

“Enter!”

She opened the door and went inside. Noting little more than the fact that two men were seated before Subcommander Yager’s desk, she opened her mouth to speak.

“Whoa! What’s so damned important that you nearly knocked my fucking door down?” Subcommander Yager bellowed before she could say anything.

“I just got your summons. You’ve reassigned me! That’s my problem!

I’m the best you have out there. My team is good, damn it!” She shoved a hand through her hair, not caring that she probably looked like a curly porcupine.

“Sera,” Yager sighed, gesturing to the men in the chairs, “you have a new team. This is Commander Ash Walker and Paracommander Brandt Pela.”

At the mention of the names, a roar of white noise filled her ears. In what felt like slow motion, Sera turned and looked into the face of a man she knew all too well many years before. “Ash.”

The palest blue eyes she’d ever seen gazed up at her. Eyes she’d given herself to as he was above her and below her. Eyes that had held her down as he’d bound and collared her to his will. Eyes that had haunted her for the last ten years.

It all crashed down on her; the world began to close in, and she fought with an iron will to hold back the impending breakdown. She fisted her hands to stop them from trembling.

4

“Sera, you’re looking well.” Ash smiled, his posture relaxed as if she were an old friend he hadn’t seen in years. It appeared he wasn’t affected at all by her presence. Prick.

“Ash?” Sera said sweetly.

He cocked his head. “Yes?”

“Fuck you,” she snarled, landing a solid right hook to his jaw.

“Halt. Gods damn it, Sera!” Yager jumped up and, with the other man, held her back as Ash got up from the floor where she’d sent him sprawling.

“What the seven hells is wrong with you?” Yager demanded, his face an inch from hers.

“Why, nothing now. I feel ever so much better.” She hoped her smile was as feral as she felt. At least her hands weren’t shaking anymore.

The other higher-up who’d come with Ash barked out a laugh and stepped back, letting her go. “I’m Brandt. I’ve heard a lot about you.” Sera looked up at him. Where Ash’s beauty was harsh, savage, this man’s was elegant. He had almond-shaped eyes of a deep brown so dark they were nearly black. The twist of his braid, dark and rich as his eyes, reached halfway down his back. Lush lips and perfect cheekbones, skin in a beautiful olive tone that made her want to reach out and touch him: delicious.

“Look, I have nothing against you, Paracommander. But I am not going to work with Ash Walker. Not now, not ever. I have a team. We work very well together.”

“Stand down, Ayers!” Yager shoved her into a chair. “You want to do time in the brig for attacking a superior officer? I expect there’s an explanation for this—like you’ve gone insane—but you’ll be making amends for your behavior, which you know is horribly out of line.”

“This won’t work, Subcommander. Just put me back with my team.” Sera tried not to sound as desperate as she felt.

“Sera, things with the Imperialists are getting worse. You know that.

You see that every day.” Ash tried to stay reasonable, despite the pain in his jaw. He’d deserved the punch, he knew that. And at least the pain kept him 5

focused on something other than how much she still affected him, even a decade later.

“Why is he talking?” Sera jerked her head in his direction, speaking through clenched teeth.

“May I speak with you alone?” Ash asked through his own tightened jaw.

“No. You may not speak to me any way at all, at any time or in any place.” Still stubborn, that much hadn’t changed.

“What the hells is going on here? It’s obvious you know each other.

Walker, this is something you should have disclosed to me up front.” Yager looked back and forth between Ash and Sera, clearly unhappy.

“If you’ll excuse me, SC Yager, I don’t need to disclose anything to you but what I determine you need to know,” Ash growled back.

Sera groaned and got up, heading for the door, but Brandt stopped her.

“Sorry about this, Lieutenant Ayers, but you’ll need to stay.” Ash watched in slow motion as she centered herself, rocking back enough to give a side kick to Brandt’s knees and knocking him down. Using his surprise, she scrambled over him and out of the room.

“Sera! Damn it, woman, hold up!” Ash rushed to pursue her.

Even though he was agitated, he couldn’t help but admire her skill. She was quick and limber as she dodged people in the long hallways. Despite his calls for bystanders to stop her, they jumped out of the way and let her pass, indicating a high level of respect for her along with a distrust of outsiders.

Still, he had nearly half a foot on her, and his legs were longer. He caught up to her quickly, grabbing her and shoving her into a room near the front reception area. Slamming the door, he locked it with savage satisfaction. Taking a moment to gather himself, he turned toward her, keeping her only exit through him.

“Don’t try and run from me again, Sera. I’ve had enough of that from you. Just listen to what I have to say.” Ash used the toe of one of his boots to shove a chair in her direction.

6

“You’ve had enough running from me? That’s rich.” Sera remained standing. Arms crossed, feet apart and eyes narrowed, she looked fearsome and unapproachable.

“Things are bad right now. The Imperialists are gaining the upper hand along the frontier. If we lose any ’Verse in this system, we could lose everything. If they gain a hold here,” he paused for a moment, “well, you know what could happen. I need your skills on my team.”

“I have a team. Find another person, Commander.”

He growled in her direction and ran a hand over his scalp but caught the way she watched his movement. Ahh, she remembered. Once, she had loved to stroke her fingertips over the smooth skin of his scalp, tracing along the tribal tattoos marking his family and position that edged the back of his head. All wasn’t lost just yet.

“Commander? Now you honor my title? Not back before you decided to punch me and be otherwise insubordinate?”

“Commander, I do not wish to be on your team. Period. I do not wish to be in the same room with you. In the same universe with you. I want you to go away. Find. Another. Girl. I’m not interested.” Gods she was magnificent when she was angry. He took in every part of her. The curve of her waist, the swell of her breasts. The way her bottom lip looked so juicy he always wanted to bite it, to savor her bit by bit. He’d forgotten just how long her legs were. Only Sera could make combat gear look sexy. And oh, how she did.

“I don’t need to find another girl, Sera. You’re what I need. What Brandt and I need. We’re heading through the portal, and we need your language skills. More than that, you’re an excellent fighter, good on your feet and smart.”

“I don’t want this! Why are you doing this to me?” She held herself totally erect, still, her arms stiff at her sides.

His heart constricted in his chest at the anguish in her tone. She was perfect for their team. He hadn’t lied about that. Brandt had run the names through the computer, and hers was at the top of the list. Ash had been surprised to see how far she’d come in the last decade. When he’d been with Sera she’d been a translator in the diplomatic corps. There’d been brief talk of her joining the military corps. She’d certainly had the linguistic and 7

martial arts skills. But after they’d crashed and burned, she’d left the diplomatic job and joined the military. She’d risen quickly and with a great deal of commendation. For a woman of an unranked family to reach lieutenant and to command her own team was nearly unheard of.

All of Ash’s feelings for Sera had rushed back as Brandt had briefed him. He hadn’t kept tabs on her, because he couldn’t bear it. Couldn’t bear knowing she’d gotten married and had children with another man or something else like that. It’d been selfish, but he knew his flaws.

As he stood there, watching her anger and frustration, he knew he’d come not just for his team but to make her his again. Period. He may not have kept tabs on her, but he hadn’t stopped thinking of her over the last ten years . . . no matter how hard he tried.

There’d never been anyone after her. Not like she was to him. There’d been women in his bed, yes. But no one had held his heart, because it belonged to the very angry woman across the room.

“I’m doing this because it’s what needs to be done. You took the oath, Sera. You joined the corps and pledged to do what was best, above your own wishes. You said you’d do what was necessary to fight the Imperialists.

We need you on our team. You’re wasted here. And I’m not asking. I’m ordering you to get your gear, because we’re out of here in two turns.” Sera stared at him, openmouthed, helpless fury riding her hard. She hated him just a bit less than she loved him, and she loathed her weakness for him. Ash Walker made her vulnerable, and she couldn’t afford it.

“I’d rather sit in the brig.”

He sighed. “You’d be wasted in the brig. I told you, we need you.” He pulled a comm unit out of his pocket. “Brandt, send in two guards to escort Lieutenant Ayers to her quarters to pack her gear. They are to stay with her and be sure she gets to our rendezvous point by the proper time.”

“Ash . . .” Brandt paused. “Yes, sir. I’ll have them wait just outside the front doors. I’m on my way.”

“I can’t believe you’re doing this.”

“Get over it, Sera. It was ten years ago.”

8

“I hate you. I hate the sight of you.” Sera pushed past him and out into the hall. She didn’t resist when Brandt took her arm and handed her over to the guards.

“Ayers, I’m sorry. I didn’t know there was a problem,” Yager said quietly, pausing to scowl at Brandt and Ash.

“It’s not your fault, sir. Please make sure my team gets a good leader.” Her people. She’d trained them. They’d been like her family, and all she had left was to hope they’d be all right.

“Count on it.” Yager nodded, turned a glare on Ash and they watched as the guards led her out to their vehicle.

* * *

Brandt looked over at Ash, his face lit by the yellowish street-lamps they drove past. He could see how troubled his friend was—had been since Brandt had given her name to him.

“You okay?”

“I never should have let her go.”

“No. You shouldn’t have. But you had no other choice, and you did what you had to do. You can’t change the past, Ash. The real question is about right now. What are you going to do?”

“I can’t believe I walked away from her to marry Kira. Brandt, you don’t understand; Sera was perfect. So strong. She led all day long. But at the end of her shift, once we entered our quarters, she let all that fall away.

Gave herself to me. Gods, that pretty skin of hers turns the most alluring shade of pink. I can still see the marks on her ass and thighs after she’d been flogged or paddled.” Ash kept his eyes on the passing scenery, so Brandt knew he was thinking back.

“Knock it off, Ash. You’re making me hard. And I can’t see how this is going to help. Are we bringing her on to help win the war or to get her back in your bed?” Brandt was troubled by the answer he’d give if he had a say.

He liked the look of Sera Ayers and couldn’t deny her appeal after hearing Ash talk about her through the years.

“Hey!” Ash sat up straight but slumped back into the seat again. “The war. She’s a great asset. We need her.”

9

Brandt stayed silent but raised a brow as he drove.

“Okay, okay. Both. I knew I wanted her back, but I thought I’d be able to keep that separate. I didn’t realize the depth of what I’d missed until she walked into the room, and I saw her again. Smelled her skin, saw the flush on her face when she got angry.”

“Felt her fist connect with your jaw?” Brandt smirked.

“Whose side are you on, anyway?”

Brandt chuckled. “That’s a stupid question. Kira may be my sister, but I’ve always thought you two were wrong for each other. She’s much happier now with her spineless, pushover husband in her political marriage. You’re a bad memory.” He shrugged. “But from what little you’ve told me and what I saw tonight in how Sera reacted to you, I don’t know that getting her back in your bed is a possibility. We need her on this team, Ash. More than you need to fuck her.”

“I can have both.” Ash was smug as he said it. “I know her buttons, Brandt. Know them better than anyone. I just have to remember how to push them at the right time.”

“If you say so.”

* * *

“He what?” Sera’s father exclaimed via the vid screen. Over a secure channel, she’d just told him about Ash showing up, dismantling her team and ordering her onto his.

“Oh, so you weren’t good enough to marry ten years ago, but you’re good enough when the Federation needs you. Damned Families think they’re better than those of us whose sweat and blood have kept the Universes free all these years.”

“Dai, I know. You don’t have to say it twice. I have no choice. He sent guards with me. They’re outside.”

Jakob Ayers’s face softened when her voice turned strained. “Of course, baby. I’m sorry. You go. You aren’t one who shirks her duty. You go and do your job. Keep your eyes on your objective. There’s no law that says you have to like your commander. Gods know, I’ve served under a few 10

dunderheads in my time, too. This’ll make you stronger. I know you; you’ll make it work for yourself. I’m proud of you.”

Sera fought tears. “Thank you, Dai. You’ll tell Mai and clear my quarters? I’ll check in when I can.”

“Of course I’ll tell her. She’s going to be upset she missed your call.

But we love you, and we’ll light a candle for you every day at temple. Be safe.”

Signing off, Sera shoved her tears down as far as they could go and finished jamming her things into the three allotted bags. Her orders had been for an unspecified period of time, standard language for mobile assignment units. They wouldn’t hold her quarters that long. Her mother would come to pack the rest of her belongings so the military could assign the unit to another soldier.

“Lieutenant Ayers, it’s time to go,” one of the guards at the door said not unkindly. She could see his unwillingness to be part of the situation in his eyes. But he was in the corps like she was. Orders were orders.

“Fine. Be useful and carry this.” She tossed him a bag, and he took it, looking grateful to help in some way. She shouldered the two other bags, and the guards led her to the transport vehicle.

As they drove, she tried to process everything. The longer she thought about the situation, the more sense it made that Ash would be so highly connected in the military. He came from a Ranking Family, and the Families controlled the highest levels of the Federation, including the military. Sera recalled enough history to know that the Pelas were another powerful Family, although their territories were far flung from the Walkers’.

Something else niggled at the back of her mind, but she was too tired, too wired and angry to grasp it.

She should have been flattered. If it were anyone but Ash Walker, she’d have jumped at the chance to serve on one of the mobile units. She believed in what she was doing. Believed that if they didn’t fight against the constantly spreading tyranny of the Imperialists, billions of citizens through all the Known Universes in the Federation would be enslaved.

Still, the idea of submitting to his command again in any way deeply troubled her. At one time in her life she’d loved him so much she’d actually considered his offer to be his mistress. He would have had his Family-approved union, of course. Why should a Family member ever have to 11

suffer? And as an officially recognized mistress, Sera could have even borne his children. But in the end, her pride and self-respect had won, and she walked away.

After twenty minutes the transport slowed at an outlying suburb, pulling into a garage attached to a small series of outbuildings.

She was then loaded into a small helicopter and taken on another lazy, back-and-forth route for a few minutes more until the copter touched down on a pad behind a large estate.

As she pulled her bags from the helicopter, Sera saw Brandt come out of the main house. The precise and predatory walk coupled with the hyperaware gaze told her he wouldn’t be caught off guard again any time soon. She was going to have to accept her lot.

She took pity on the guard at her side. “Don’t worry, I won’t make a break for it.”

“I’m sorry, Lieutenant Ayers. I wish . . .” His eyes caught hers for a moment.

“Everyone’s sorry. But it’s the way things are. You get orders. I get orders. We don’t like them, but they’re orders just the same. Now go on. Try and have a good night.”

She shut the door carefully, hefted her bags and stepped back. The men stayed in the helicopter, and it cheered her that they took her at her word. At least she had that. They took off, and she gathered a steadying breath and moved toward where Brandt stood, waiting.

“Sera, can I get one of your bags?” Brandt asked as she approached.

“Where are my quarters, PC?” Her voice was crisp and efficient.

He sighed. “Are we going to do it this way?”

“What do you want from me? I don’t want to be here. You busted up my team, and gods only know who’ll lead them now. You put me under the command of a man I loathe. Military code does not require me to like this assignment or to pretend to be excited about it. I don’t have to be nice. I just have to obey orders. Which I will do. Now, where are my quarters, or is there a briefing? Perhaps you plan to keep me in the dark?” 12

Brandt grabbed one of her bags with a snort and jerked his head. “This way. We’ll get your bags stowed, and then we’ll have a meeting. Ash will want to go over things with you.”

She touched her forehead in salute, and he looked stunned for a moment, shrugging before leading her into the large house.

Once inside, he motioned up a stairway, and she followed him, not failing to notice his muscular ass in his uniform pants. There was some solace in the evening, at least.

At the end of the hallway he kicked a door open and flipped on the lights. It was a sizable room with a small kitchen and bathroom unit attached. There was a bedroom with a separate living space. Sera noted the state-of-the-art electronic equipment on the desk. She’d be excited about the new gear after she was alone. There was no way she’d let him see her glee.

“Get unpacked, but keep a kit bag ready at all times. We’ll expect you in the main area in twenty. Back downstairs and to the left. You can’t miss it. We’ll have a meal ready, too.” He stood there for a moment. “Welcome, Sera. I mean that. You’re a real asset to this team.” He turned and left the room before she could say anything, closing the door behind him.

She leaned against it, trying to catch her breath, trying to still the thoughts racing through her brain as the past pressed against her future.

Fear, something she hadn’t tasted in many years, began to war with wary excitement. This was a nightmare, yes, but there was no denying the challenge appealed to her. How it would all end up remained to be seen.

13