Born of Defiance

“Am I?”


“Yes, you are. Extremely gorgeous. Utterly lickable. Sexy. Hotter than any male I’ve ever seen, in the flesh or on-screen. I would love to be there to eat you up, from the tips of your toes, all the way to your delectable lips.” She sighed happily. “I can’t get the taste of you out of my mind. Or the feeling of you holding or touching me. Every night, I go to sleep imagining that I’m bathing you again. Only this time we get to finish what we started, and I get to nibble all of you while you lie in my bed.”

“Mmm.”

She arched her brow at the deep growl in his throat. “Are you okay, sweetie?”

“Mmm-hmmm.” He sucked his breath in sharply, then let out an elongated groan.

Heat burned her face as she realized what was going on. “Did you just… ?”

“Yeah,” he said breathlessly. “Sorry.”

“Why are you apologizing?”

“Because you sound embarrassed and I didn’t mean to do that to you. But I do appreciate your help. I really needed that.” He sent her another photo.

“You look very relaxed now.”

“I am. But I’d rather have done that with you actually participating.”

“Me, too.” She snapped another picture of herself pouting at him.

He sent over a video request.

Accepting it, she smiled as she saw his face in live time. “Hey, handsome.”

“Gods, you’re beautiful. Is everything okay with the condo?”

“Only one thing would make it better.”

“What?”

“You being here.”

His bashful smile made her heart race. “Did the school get their payment?”

“They did. Thank you.”

“Any time.” He grimaced as that familiar buzzing started. “My time in the locker’s up. I have to go. I’ll see you when I can.”

“Miss you, Talyn!”

“Miss you, too, baby.” He hung up.

Her lips quivered as she stared at the blank screen, hating it. How could she ache so much for someone she barely knew? Yet there was no denying what she felt. Or how deeply.

Holding the link to her heart, she drew a ragged breath as she glanced around the luxury Talyn provided for her. He spared no expense when it came to her needs and comfort. It wasn’t fair that she was allowed to live here on his money, while he was forced to endure hell to pay for it all.

She’d never been one to suffer injustice, and this really pissed her off. All the assholes in the universe and a male so decent was punished for not being selfish. It was so wrong.

Felicia brushed her hand over her contact list and hesitated as she saw her half brother’s name there. She never really spoke to that side of her family – they were too mocking for that, and she’d never asked a favor before.

Would it upset Talyn if she did?

There was no way of knowing. For everything she felt toward him, she didn’t really know him well enough to guess how he’d react to her interference with his life.

Given his size and strength, the last thing she wanted to do was anger him.

Not willing to risk it, she turned the link off. For now, she’d leave it as it was. But if Talyn’s CO didn’t shape up and treat him right soon, she would call Lorens and see what she could do to help Talyn.



Talyn paused as he walked past the jewelry counter in the BX. After his call with Felicia, he’d come in on his way to the barracks to replace the flight boots that were starting to rub his heel, and to pick up a new brass kit and charges for his blasters.

While he’d known the jewelry section was here, he’d never paid attention to it before.

But in the small case in front of him was a collection of the hugging heart rings that were a popular gift pilots bought for their partners. A larger silver heart was wound around a smaller gold one, as if hugging or protecting it. One in particular was made of pale pink gold and encrusted with diamonds. For some reason, he thought Felicia might like it. It just looked soft and warm. Petite.

Like her.

“Major,” the clerk greeted him as she approached from the other side of the counter. “May I be of service?”

Talyn started to walk on, but he couldn’t quite do it. “I was just looking at the rings.”

She smiled brightly. “Ah, yes. The Remember Me ring. You know, they’re said to be good luck. It’s why they’re our biggest seller.”

“How so?”

She reached into the case to pull out the display. “You give one to your special lady to keep, and so long as she wears it, it’ll bring you safely home to her arms.”

Talyn smiled at the thought as he reached for the one that had caught his attention. Up close, it appeared rather large. Felicia had tiny, graceful hands. “I don’t know what her size is.”

“I can give you a voucher and she can take it to any jeweler for sizing.”

He held it out to her. “I should like this one, then.”

“Very good. I just need to see your ID.”