Lana's Comet (Outer Settlement Agency) by Lyn Brittan Read Free Book Online Page A

Save now. Then it hit her, a prickling at the base of her neck...they weren’t alone anymore.
    “We don’t like strangers around here.”
    They turned to face two men in sparkling gold tunics with lasers pointed in their direction. One elbowed the other. “Do you recall inviting visitors? I know I don’t.”
    “We’re passing through.” Before she even finished, her face heated at their laughter. Fair enough and well deserved. This wasn’t the place one just sorta strolled through by accident. Every building had a busted window or four and only half of the streetlights illuminated at full strength. Most had open casings, indicating theft of power.
    “You’re going to pay for intruding.”
    There were layers of being screwed – and they ranged from ‘kinda’ to ‘truly fucked.’ This right here fell on the far end.
    She waited for Cyprus to say something and though he moved behind her, his lips stayed shut. The idiot could get them out of this with a flash of his badge. No one could be stupid enough to harm an Outer Settlement Agency official of his rank. That, however, would put his precious reputation at risk. “Well?”
    “I can take them both,” he whispered, breath warm against her ear.
    “I’ll help.”
    “No, you won’t.”
    She did and her plan was freaking genius. “This guy is trying to shake me down for money. Light him up,” she yelled to the men and took off down an alley with the intent of doubling back and catching them from behind. Three things had to go down for this to work.
    She got none of ‘em.
    She heard a lot though. 
    Her feet on the pavement.
    Cyprus swearing.
    The two men laughing.
    Cyprus’s voice dropping to controlled conversation and the laughter turning to triumphant growls.
    Whoa. So, a slight miscalculation on her part.
    She slid out her shoes to silence her steps and quick-timed to the other side of the building. At the edge facing the street, she dropped to her knees and peered around the corner. The three men stood in a triangle of testosterone, all with weapons aimed and machismo oozing out of their pores.
    She lowered the output of her weapon, locked her target on Gold Man #1 and fired. Goldie #2 wrenched his whole body around, head swinging wildly. Then he grunted and fell forward. Cyprus walked over them...literally...then grabbed the omnitablets from the tree and reached for her hand.
    “Wait! I need my shoes.”
    “Hurry up. Did you kill him?”
    “No.”
    He shook his head and waved her over to the main thoroughfare. “Good. It’s not as if they’ll go to the authorities about it. And uh, good work back there.”
    “I feel as though we’ve been here before,” she said. “Running down the street, hand in hand, leaving a trail of wanton destruction behind us.”
    “That’s nothing to be proud of.”
    “And yet...” She trailed off giving in to the grin that matched her own. “It’s okay to have fun. Remember? Doctor’s orders.”
    “That is wildly inappropriate.”
    She meant to refute him. Totally. Meant to just lay right into him, but it was hard to do with his mouth against hers. Thinking about anything other than the fullness of his lips and how his smooth tongue danced with hers, proved a welcome difficulty.
    This kiss was softer than the one before.
    Unrushed.
    Perhaps, not the best time for that. She broke apart, tugging his lips between her teeth as she did, eager to hold on for a touch longer, but knowing she couldn’t. Not here.
    “Now, that’s wildly inappropriate from a superior officer. You should hang your head in shame,” she said and leaned her forehead against his.
    He chuckled, a warm breezy thing across her nose. “Agreed. Quite troubling.”
    “But we’re also adults.”
    “I agree.”
    “Smart.”
    “I agree.”
    “Slightly criminal.”
    “Tragic.”
    “But mostly good.”
    “Another fair assessment.”
    She looked up into blazing blue eyes as hungry as her own. Desire was a hard thing to hide, but not for