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Powered Up - Sector Guard 11 -  at Devine Destinies

Controlling technology is fine, but when a super powered hunk tells you he is your new partner, you follow wherever he leads.

 Ilsa Kimoni has spent the last three years saving her own people in privacy, locked away in the seizure centre on Pahnnan. When a member of the Sector Guard request and demands her skills, she has no choice but to say yes. Controlling technology is her talent, but she will need skill and patience to deal with her new partner, Razer.
Born of the warlike mercenary race, Kozue, he is appalled at her lack of physical skills but captivated by her deep brown eyes. What could Commander have been thinking to pair him with such a soft, golden, sexy female? She would be more distraction than assistance.
When she powers up, she proves her worth and still distracts the hell out of him.

Excerpt:

Ilsa was ignoring the nurses' attempt to involve her in the daily art therapy. If they would let her run around and reclaim her physical fitness, she wouldn't still be here in the hospice.

"Ilsa, you have a visitor." Neela was looking a little dazed and slightly flushed.

"Are you insane? I never have visitors." She turned her chair around to face the door and felt her own cheeks heat with a blush. "Oh."

Framed by the doorway was a man whose deep bronze skin and swinging black braids proclaimed him one of the Kozue. Born to fight with reflexes that left their opponents stunned, the silver eyes that were typical of the species were fixed on her with the light of surprise in their depths. The body suit he wore hugged all of the bulging muscles that had ever haunted her fantasies, the belt holding his blades snaked around a narrow waist, those blades strapped down by bands over each thickly bulging thigh.

"He is one of the Sector Guard and wishes to speak with you." Neela whispered it to her as if his keen hearing couldn't detect it. The slight smile on his face brightened Ilsa's blush.

Straightening in her chair, she steered it toward him. "You wished to speak with me?"

"You are Ilsa Kimoni?"

"I am."

"Then yes, I wish to speak to you."

She nodded. "Come with me." She steered her chair past him and out the door into the hall and down to the gardens. No one was ever in the gardens during art therapy.

She could hear the clash of the beads in his hair as he moved. He was doing it deliberately so that she could know how close he was. He needn't have bothered. She could smell his warm, masculine scent. It was so distracting she almost steered her chair off the edge of the reflecting pool.

Blinking and blushing once again, she positioned herself near a bench, gesturing for him to sit.

"What brings the Sector Guard to my door, so to speak?" She kept eye contact with him, but it was difficult. Her dark brown gaze was no match for his silver one.

"We have received a report that you are exhibiting symptoms of being a candidate for the Sector Guard."

She blinked. "Who are you?"

His cheeks bronzed even more. "I am sorry, my name is Razer. I am one of the Guardsmen out of Udell Base."

"What report could you possibly have gotten on me?" She was curious. She drummed her fingers on the edge of the chair.

"That you have a talent for animating large pieces of equipment."

Ilsa's lips twitched in an effort to squelch the run of amusement that his statement caused. The double entendre was only in her mind. "I have never declared any such thing. What could have possibly triggered a report?"

He looked at her legs for a moment. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Certainly."

"What is wrong with your legs?"

She giggled. It was nice that he was direct. "Nothing. Well, they are a little weak, but there is no reason for the chair."

"Then why are you in it?"

"Because they are afraid I will have a seizure when I am standing, so they have alarmed the chair to keep me from falling. It's stupid, but I can't check out under my own steam." She snorted and wiggled her toes, but when she shifted her weight, the chair chirped a warning. "See?"

"So, they are imprisoning you here?" His voice took on a harsh tone that was endearing to her and seemed to surprise him.

"Yes and no. If I go without a seizure for six months I will be free to go."

His lips twitched. "Why can't you?"

"Because, for example, if I did have talent, it might read as a seizure and my body might be locked in an unconscious state. Hypothetically."

He smiled outright. "Indeed. Hypothetically." He chuckled, a rusty sound that made her wish she was out of that chair and preening for his attention so that the smile would bathe her in its light.

"What would your talent be, hypothetically?"

He already knew, she could see it in his face. "Well, if I were to have a seizure, as they call it…I would send my conscious mind into a mobile machine and use it like my own body." She smiled. "Hypothetically."

"What kind of machines?"

"Walkers, transports, boats, anything that can move, but you knew that already." She squinted at him and he grinned again.

"I do. Would you be willing to leave Pahnnan?" It was a formal request and she read it as such.

"I would. There is nothing left for me here." Once her parents had died, there was no one left to miss her.

"Excellent. I will make the arrangements." He rose and bowed to her.

She smiled. "That's it?"

"That is it. You have already been cleared to leave the surface and the training centre at Udell is awaiting a woman's touch." His lips were twitching again.

"Wonderful. I can't wait. I will just go to my room and get changed." She moved her chair past him and into the shade of the building where Neela was watching her with worried eyes. "To my room."

"What did he want?" Neela took charge of the chair and pushed Ilsa back through the centre.

"Why, my dear Neela…" She turned in her chair to look at her nurse with a wink, ignoring the beeping of the chair. "He wanted me."

"You are joking." Neela turned off the alarm and helped Ilsa into bed. The bed was now alarmed as well, but Ilsa could get around it.

"I am. I am really joking. He wanted to speak to me about his assignment on Pahnnan. Nothing more."

Neela fluffed her pillows to a ridiculous degree. "He is very handsome."

"I noticed, but I am hardly in any condition to take advantage of him. Can I have some time alone?"

Neela hesitated.

Ilsa grinned and added, "He might still be on premises. You might catch another look."

The nurse couldn't get away fast enough.

Ilsa grinned and rolled to her side, reached for the wires and disconnected them with only a mild electric shock. She was then free to swing her legs off the edge of the bed and stand on shaking limbs. Her movements were slow and deliberate as she shucked her hospital robe and gown. Her outer clothing was difficult to tug on, but she was eventually wearing a skirt, shirt and light jacket with some soft shoes. Not exactly battle wear, but it was the best she could do.

He had been watching her dress for three minutes when she finally turned around to face him.

"You can walk."

"I can. But not far. I have been confined to that chair for three years." She walked slowly to him and saw the flicker of impatience in his eyes.

"I will carry you. You are too slow and unsteady." Razer leaned down and lifted her easily, her wasted limbs making her no barrier to his strength.

"As you will." She crossed her arms and merely sat in the cradle of his limbs.

"A good attitude. It will be helpful for you in the field." He looked down. "After we get you fit. I am turning away all assignments until you are fit enough to my way of thinking."

She shuddered. The Kozue were not known for their tolerance of injuries.

The halls of the centre were filled with murmurs and several pointing fingers attached to astonished bodies. Self-conscious, Ilsa made sure that her long skirt was still down around her ankles.

"It is fine. They are staring at me and trying to find out if you are with me willingly or if I have just pillaged the centre with you as my prize."

"Oh."

His face was serious, but there was amusement in his gaze. "I think it is a little of both."

Powered Up - Sector Guard Book 11 - Available from Devine Destinies