Passion Model Read online

  To give him credit, Declan didn’t sound surprised at the lengths to which his father was willing to go. “Let’s get out of here.”

  I crouched and leaped, and swiped the other lasergun off the pavement before the fallen secbot could reach it. The weapon’s weight and controls were similar to a stunner, but different enough that my first shot went wild. My second didn’t. The secbot on the ground fell back without another protest, its guts a smoking mess of burning wires.

  Declan grabbed my shoulder and pulled me back as the remaining secbot fired at us. The blast winged Declan, singed his shirt and crisped the hair curling over his collar. We both ducked as the bot fired again. I whirled with the laser in my hand and aimed for the secbot’s face. They’d been given weapons to carry but not the shielding to protect them against their own weapons. It took me two shots, but I killed that bot too.

  We stared at each other in the smoke-stinking alley. The hand holding the laser trembled, and I let it fall to my side. Declan put his hands to my face hesitantly, his eyes searching mine for permission to continue. With the adrenaline no longer pumping through me, I felt weak and more than a little close to tears. I couldn’t have resisted him even if I’d wanted to, and I didn’t want to.

  His mouth on mine pressed sweetly, then hungrily as I clutched at his shoulders and urged him on. It had been too long since we’d kissed, an eternity since we’d touched. I’d thought I’d never touch him again.

  His hands found the tangled lengths of my torn hair and smoothed them away from my forehead. His eyelashes brushed my cheeks as he pressed kisses to my face and neck. When he put his arms around me to hold me closer to him, I let out a sighing moan at the combined pleasure and agony the embrace provided. With the immediate danger passed, my brain was no longer blocking the pain from my wounds. I didn’t want him to let go of me, but I pushed him back, anyway.

  “Give me a few hours, Declan. And maybe a handful of pain meds.”

  “Gemma, I’m—”

  I put my finger to his mouth to shush the words. “Didn’t I tell you I don’t want your apologies?”

  “We need to figure out what we’re going to do.”

  Declan ran his hands through his hair. “My father is not a generous or kindhearted man.”

  “Really?” I touched the burn mark on his bare shoulder, then bent to kiss the spot.

  A small sound from behind me made me turn. Kaelyn peered around the doorway, her eyes wide. Her wings fluttered so frantically her small feet barely skimmed the floor, a testimony to her nervousness.

  Declan made a small sound of surprise. “Who’s this?”

  “Declan, this is my—” I broke off. I’d been about to say “my fairy”, but Kaelyn was so much more than that. “This is my daughter, Kaelyn.”

  The smile on her face as she came to my side made me glad I’d caught myself. Declan looked at me with his eyebrow cocked. I put my arm around Kaelyn’s delicate shoulders.

  “Kaelyn, this is my friend, Declan.”

  She bobbed her head. The fluttering of her wings slowed, but only slightly. She didn’t offer him her hand. “Hello.”

  “Hello, Kaelyn.” Declan gave her a slightly milder version of the smile he’d wooed me with. It worked the same magic on Kaelyn, who blushed furiously and ducked her head against my side. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

  I bent to look into Kaelyn’s eyes. “K, I have to talk with Declan about some important things. Why don’t you go watch the viddy for awhile?”

  She nodded, noticeably less anxious to stun her brain than she usually was. I could see her curiosity about Declan, but I feared I didn’t have time to do more than introduce them. We’d killed Adar’s secbots. I didn’t know what he’d do next, but I knew it wouldn’t be good, for any of us.

  I kissed her cheek and gave her a squeeze. “K, please.”

  She nodded again, her hair a fine, sweet smelling cloud against my face. Even her gentle embrace made me wince, and when she pulled away her face was pulled into a grimace of concern. “Is my Gemma all right?”

  “I’ll be fine, honey. Right now I need you to go watch viddy. Okay?”

  “Okay.” With a backward glance, she left the kitchen and went in front of the viddy.

  “We don’t have much time. Your father isn’t going to let us get away with this.”

  Declan sighed and ran his hands through the mess of his hair again. I reached out, unable to help myself, and smoothed the spiky dark strands. “I know.”

  His face was bleak, and my heart went out to him. What would it be like, to have your own father reject you so completely? To try to have you killed because you might be an embarrassment to the family?

  “My father died when I was a child,” I said quietly as I slipped into the seat across from him. I took his hands with mine. “My mother died when I was twenty. Neither of them lived to see my accident.”

  “But if they had?” He asked. “Would they have turned you out?”

  I squeezed his fingers. “I like to think not. But I don’t really know. My husband did.”

  “You were married?”

  I smiled at his growl. “Yes. For three years. It was Steve’s idea to go to Solaria, and his idea to rent the hoverbikes. After the accident, he dissolved our marriage.”

  “Bastard.”

  In that moment, I loved him for his anger on my behalf. I kissed his hand and then laid it briefly against my cheek. “It was a long time ago.”

  “My mother stopped looking at me like I was her son. Her eyes just…slide past me as though I were a stranger. She’s always perfectly polite, and perfectly cold. My sisters treat me as badly as they always did. But my father is the worst. He pretends nothing is different, nothing is wrong. When I told him I was ready to go back out into the world, he clapped me on the back and offered me a cigar. Like he was proud of me.” Declan’s face twisted and his hands bunched into fists beneath my fingers. “That son of a bitch. All along, he had me followed to be sure nobody found out who I really was. I’m not his son, I’m a liability.”

  “We need to get out of here, Declan.”

  He nodded. “I know. But where will we go?”

  My stomach dropped at the thought of it, but I knew as I answered him we had only one choice. The word caught in my throat like barbed wire. I swallowed to keep myself from choking as I replied. “We have to go Offworld.”

  System’s modulated voice startled us both. “Communication requested from Newcitizen 08111977.”

  “Eddie,” I explained to Declan’s curious expression. When his eyes narrowed, I continued the explanation. “My partner.”

  I crossed to the viddy screen and hit the acceptance code. “Eddie!”

  Eddie’s handsome face looked at me with worry stamped all over it. “G, what happened to you?”

  “I’ve had some problems, Eddie. I need your help.”

  He didn’t bother asking what trouble I was in. “Tell me what you need.”

  “We need to get Offworld, and fast. I’ve lost all my access codes, my credit account’s been garnished, and I’m sure my passport’s been put on restricted use.”

  Declan watched our interchange without speaking for a few minutes. Then he came and stood by my side. “I have money Offworld. It’s separate from the Adar accounts. My father doesn’t even know about it. If we can get Offworld, we can get to it. But I have nothing here.”

  Eddie thought for a moment. “You need to get to Oldcity. You can get everything there.”

  I nodded, refusing to think of Oldcity’s dangers. “I have Kaelyn, Eddie. I can’t leave her behind.”

  Eddie sighed. “I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”

  “I know, Eddie.” I grinned. “I love you, partner.”

  Declan tensed beside me as the viddy screen went black. “I thought you meant you worked with him.”

  I had to take a mental step back for a moment to register his comment. “Eddie is my partner. I do work with him. But he’s also my friend.”