Phase Shift Read online

  Phase Shift

  By Kelly Jensen & Jennifer R.L. Burke

  Zander and Felix’s relationship has always pushed boundaries—personal and professional alike—but their love and commitment is stronger than ever. So strong that Zander’s ready to ask commitment-shy Felix the question of a lifetime when he’s interrupted. The Chaos is being hacked, and crucial, top secret information about the project that created Zander—and his fellow super soldiers—has been leaked.

  Neither man could have expected the enormity of what’s discovered at the end of the data trail: an entire colony of super soldiers run by the very doctor who changed Zander’s life forever. And now she needs them both—Zander to train her new crop of soldiers, and Felix’s new crystalline arm to stabilize their body chemistry.

  With help from the unlikeliest of allies, Zander, Felix and the Chaos crew must destroy the project and all its ill-gotten information. But when the team is split up and Felix is MIA after a dangerous run, galactic disaster is a very real possibility...and Zander may have missed his chance to ask for forever.

  Book Five of Chaos Station

  This book is approximately 76,000 words

  Dear Reader,

  I don’t know about you, but when someone asks me for book recommendations, I first ask them what some of their favorite authors or books are, so I can give them something similar, but different. Taste matching is a pretty common way of getting recommendations for anything, really, from chocolate to TV shows to books, so I decided to do some taste matching with our Carina Press May titles.

  If you love Kristen Ashley...

  Anna del Mar’s contemporary romance may be just up your alley. One of the things I love about Kristen is that she tends to write long, giving us a chance to dive into the characters and relationships, and Anna offers the same great escape. In At the Brink, Josh Lane is blunt, ruthless, intense and exacting; a workaholic driven by internal demons; a man who doesn’t play games, except in bed, of course, where he is always in command. Lily Boswell is trapped in a dangerous situation and Josh has no problem taking advantage of that—to protect her and to get her into his bed.

  If you love Jackie Collins or Sidney Sheldon...

  Remember the awesome sweeping international feel of the ’80s glam romances? The characters were wealthy, they were dramatic, and they were no-holds-barred. Join Laura Carter’s Vengeful Love trilogy as it takes us from London to Dubai in a dark and suspenseful, sinfully sexy tale of love, betrayal and sex. Pick up books one and two before diving into this month’s nail-biting finale, Vengeful Love: Black Diamonds.

  If you love Josh Lanyon...

  You’ll love A.M. Arthur. Both Josh and A.M. are wonderful at sweeping readers into brilliant characterization and developing relationships. In Come What May, the first book in the brand-new All Saints series from A.M. Arthur, we meet Jonas Ashcroft—son of a conservative state senator, carefree frat-boy player, and definitely not gay. But when Jonas meets Tate, he’s introduced to a life he’s never known. One filled with acceptance and sex and a love that terrifies them both.

  If you love Eloisa James or Sarah MacLean...

  The sharp wit of Sarah and the fabulous heroine-centric story lines of both Sarah and Eloisa are some of my favorite things about their historical romances. Amanda Weaver’s Grantham Girls trilogy shares similarities with both and is absolutely delightful. A spirited heiress is determined to land a titled husband, but an undeniable passion with a man from her past threatens both of their futures in A Common Scandal.

  If you love Pamela Clare...

  Suspense, romance, action...what’s not to love about Pamela Clare? Piper J. Drake follows in Clare’s bestselling footsteps with her romantic suspense Safeguard series. Kyle Yeun is a very bad man and way too tempting in all the wrong ways, but mercenary Lizzy Scott needs to keep him alive long enough to provide Deadly Testimony in court even if it means there will be no rest for the wicked.

  If you love Heidi Cullinan...

  Annabeth Albert is an author you should check out. Fun and fabulous, romantic and swoon-worthy. Beta Test is an enemies-to-lovers, opposites-attract road-trip romance that will remind you of all the things you love about male/male romance.

  If you love Linnea Sinclair or Sharon Lee or Steve Miller...

  That’s right, if you’ve been craving a dynamite space-opera romance, then you’ve been missing out on the Chaos Station series by Kelly Jensen and Jenn Burke. Love in space? Yes, please. Good versus evil? Check. An ongoing romance that sweeps the galaxy book over book? Delivered. Start where the adventure begins in Chaos Station and devour the titles leading to this month’s release, Phase Shift.

  Backlist bonus taste matching:

  If you love Jaci Burton...

  Make sure you’re not missing out on Kate Willoughby’s In the Zone contemporary sports romances.

  If you love Liliana Hart...

  You’ll be enamored with the spunky Lexi Carmichael mysteries from Julie Moffett.

  And if you love the Hitman series from Jessica Clare and Jen Frederick...

  The dangerous hero of Didn’t I Warn You by Amber Bardan is right up your alley!

  As always, until next month here’s wishing you a wonderful month of books you love, remember and recommend.

  Happy reading!

  ~Angela James

  Executive Editor, Carina Press

  Dedication

  For Elias, our captain.

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Acknowledgements

  Also Available from Jenn Burke and Kelly Jensen

  About the Authors

  Chapter One

  Chloris Station, 2270

  Zed eyed the table he’d set up, wondering for the fifth time if he should have just booked a restaurant. There was a nice one near the space station’s promenade, supposed to have the best hydroponic and space-grown fruits and vegetables on Chloris. Convincing the owners to close its doors to the public for the night would have been easy—just wave enough credits in their direction, and he had plenty to wave. No problem.

  He checked his wallet for the time. Was it too late to make other arrangements? Maybe he could—

  No. He took a breath that was far more ragged than it should have been. This was the right spot for this—aboard the Chaos, their home. In their quarters.

  Right. Yes.

  Footsteps pounded down the corridor, the familiar rushed cadence Flick displayed everywhere while aboard ship. It was as though the Chaos was his personal playground—which, really, wasn’t too far from the truth. Felix Ingesson—Flick to Zed, and Fixer to most everyone else—was half owner of the little ship, engineer in title. Tinkering was his trade.

  Even though they’d been best friends for most of their lives and lovers for the past year, Zed
’s palms grew damp and his heart skipped a few beats at the thought that Flick would be appearing in the doorway any second.

  Oh God.

  “Hey,” Flick said softly as the door slid open. “Elias said he got a ping from you, that you needed—” He stopped, taking in the table for two that normally did not belong in their small quarters—the candles, the single rose in a vase, and the bowls of berries and chocolate waiting for dipping. A brow slowly arched and one corner of his mouth quirked upward. “So, not a life-or-death situation or anything?”

  Zed huffed out a chuckle. “No. For once.” Surreptitiously, he brushed his palms along the thighs of his pants, then gestured at the table. “Have a seat.”

  Smile widening, Flick stepped fully past the door and slid into the seat in front of him. Closing his eyes, he leaned forward and inhaled. “You got me strawberries.”

  Zed retrieved the bottle of sparkling juice from where it sat in a reverse thermal induction sleeve on Flick’s tinkering desk and poured two servings in the champagne flutes beside each plate. “Your favorite.”

  “And melted chocolate. Are you going to feed me dipped berries, Zed? Is this why everyone else is doing their own thing on Chloris, so we have some alone time?” Flick’s brows waggled.

  Warmth edged into Zed’s cheeks. Kind of...though not quite for the reasons Flick was thinking, most likely. “Maybe.”

  “All right!” Flick clapped his hands on his thighs, then leaned forward, eyes closed. “Feed me.” He opened his mouth expectantly.

  Chuckling, Zed grabbed one of the ripe, juicy berries by its leafy cap and swiped the end through the melted chocolate, kept nice and liquidy by a flameless heater tucked beneath the bowl. He extended it slowly past Flick’s lips, the nerves coursing through him easing just a bit as Flick let out the most decadent moan he’d ever heard while they were both dressed.

  “Good?” Zed asked.

  Flick’s eyes opened, but the lids remained at half-mast. His green eyes looked almost post-orgasmic. “Oh my God, so good.”

  Instead of waiting for Zed to serve up a berry this time, Flick did it himself.

  Zed didn’t fault him for it. Fresh fruit of any sort was a luxury since, without specialized containers, it didn’t survive trips in jump-space. It was Flick’s favorite food and one he hardly ever got to have, which was the main reason Zed had talked Elias into a trip to Chloris. The fruit here grew bigger and better than anywhere, save maybe Earth. He helped himself to a berry, but his enjoyment of the taste paled in comparison with his enjoyment of indulging Flick.

  “So what’s the occasion?” Flick asked, wiping a stray droplet of red juice from the corner of his mouth. “Not that I’m complaining—get me fruit anytime, man, seriously. But this is a lot fancier than just handing me a basket to snack on.”

  “Yeah. Well...” Zed cleared his throat. His face heated and he prayed that Flick couldn’t see the blush in the low lighting. He busied his hands with his champagne flute and the berries on his plate to avoid making them free for Flick’s touch.

  Over the past four months, since Flick had acquired a fancy new arm from the galaxy’s fourth species—crystalline giants known as the resonance—they’d gotten used to communicating wordlessly. Zed bore a piece of the telepathic aliens too, a shard in his neck inserted by the mysterious and unknowable Guardians. It allowed him and Flick to share emotions, thoughts and, if they concentrated, simple phrases. He loved that connection. Reveled in it. But right now, he didn’t want to communicate what he was thinking and feeling without words.

  He needed to say stuff vocally. They could touch later, confirm the words with thoughts and emotions to solidify it all.

  Flick munched on another berry, then gestured with the half-eaten remainder when Zed didn’t continue. “If you’re trying to let me down easy, it’s way too late.”

  Zed shook his head. Not that, no, God no.

  Slurping up the rest of the berry, Flick leaned forward again, his crystalline hand reaching across the table. The gleaming skin caught the low light of the candles and refracted it, throwing muted patterns on the wall. “Talk to me, Zed.”

  Right. Now or never. Suck it up, Anatolius. “I—”

  The chime of Flick’s bracelet interrupted him. Flick glanced down at it, frowning, then brushed a finger over the holo interface. “It’s Marnie.”

  A familiar visage popped into view—Marnie Scott, one of their oldest friends from the Academy and a former military intelligence operative who’d retired to become the Chaos’s go-to intelligence-gathering guru. She and her husband, Ryan, lived on an asteroid named Morrison, the Chaos’s unofficial home base.

  “Hey, Marnie.”

  Marnie’s face creased into a smile. “I can barely see you, it’s so dark. Did I interrupt sexytimes or something?”

  “Do you really think I’d answer your call if I was sexing up my man?”

  She winced. “Flick, honestly, scratch ‘sexing up’ from your vocabulary. Please.”

  Zed cleared his throat. “Actually, Marnie, we were kinda...uh...” Kinda what? Marnie didn’t usually call unless there was a reason. Even if she disconnected now so he could finish what he’d been planning, he’d be thinking about why she’d interrupted them. “Never mind. Go ahead.”

  “Are you guys researching a job?”

  “No. Zed’s feeding me strawberries. Why?”

  “So...” Marnie’s brows dipped low over her almond-shaped eyes. “Have you got an automated process running?”

  Flick glanced at Zed over the holo. “Not that I’m aware of.”

  “You’re not pulling data off the asteroid’s servers right now. You’re sure?” Marnie’s expression grew slack with something like shock. “Shit, Ryan! I think we’re being hacked, baby.”

  Zed’s blood turned to ice. “Hacked?”

  Out of the range of the holo’s feed, he could hear Ryan cursing.

  “What are they accessing, Marnie?” Flick demanded. “Marnie!”

  Her eyes focused on something offscreen, Marnie shook her head. “Shit. Shit! We need to cut all connection to the Chaos. I’ll be in touch.”

  “Marn—” The holo winked out of existence.

  “They thought we were accessing data.” Zed met Flick’s wide eyes.

  Flick opened another holo interface. “Nobody on board but us. Ship’s clear.”

  “There’s an external access port, though, isn’t there?” Something for engineers to plug into during maintenance. “Could someone—”

  “Fuck!”

  Flick charged out of the room, leaving Zed to scramble after him.

  * * *

  The external access port was located outside the auxiliary hatch in Cargo Two. Beneath the competing glare of three holoscreens, Felix managed to climb the narrow stairs from engineering to the main level of the Chaos without falling. Having two functioning hands helped. He skidded through the mess, into the aft corridor, through Cargo Two and stopped in front of the small airlock. As they were docked, the inner door was open. The external door remained sealed.

  Zed pulled up so close behind, his breath tickled the back of Felix’s neck. “Let me go first,” he said, stunner raised and ready. He’d stopped at the arms locker on the way, obviously. He must have Zoned to catch up so fast. Zed angled around Felix’s shoulder as if preparing to barrel through the sealed door.

  “Panel isn’t responding.” Felix keyed in his access code again, but the panel next to the external hatch remained inert. A single light indicated power, but it was otherwise dead. A coincidental fault, or had someone uploaded a remote lock? “Shit.” Felix canceled two of his displays and opened another.

  “What’s wrong with the door?”

  “Hold on, trying the captain’s security key.” Technically, Elias was captain, but all five crew aboard th
e Chaos had access to the codes for the entire ship. The key failed to activate the door. As Felix pulled up his list of hacking routines, the panel light blinked off. A power fluctuation? The lights in the cargo hold flickered, brightened and died. Then they switched on again. Off. The all but imperceptible hum of a ship at dock hiccupped next. Felix felt the variation through his boot soles. He put a hand to the wall.

  “What are you doing?” Zed asked.

  “Listening to the ship.” Felix glanced over at Zed. “Can you feel the power fluctuating?”

  “No, but the blinking lights clued me in.”

  Felix opened a diagnostic and cursed softly. No way those readings were right. Whoever was hacking their ship was fucking with him, which meant—

  “Shit.”

  “What?”

  “Whoever locked this door knows I’m trying to open it. The power fluctuations? They’re laughing at me. We need to get outside now.”

  Zed was halfway across the small cargo bay before Felix finished speaking. Following, Felix tapped his bracelet to open a channel and selected the icon for Elias’s wallet. After two pings, he urged him to pick up. “C’mon, Elias. Fuck!”

  A holo bearing Elias’s amiable face popped into being, flashing off walls as Felix ran back through the ship to Cargo One. “Hey! I don’t even have to ask if you said yes, right? Should we stay out another hour or so while you two—”

  “How close are you to the docks?”

  Elias lost his smile. “Maybe two levels down and half a klick away. Why?”

  Felix swallowed a growl. “I think someone is plugged in to the external access port, and they’re fucking with the whole ship. Aux hatch in Cargo Two is locked. Trying to unlock it set off a chain of power fluctuations.” The lights dimmed and Felix tripped over the door frame into Cargo One. He flew two meters before connecting with the floor and sliding into the back of Zed’s legs. Zed reached down to haul him to his feet.

  “Fix?”

  Ignoring the flare of pain from his knees to his shoulders, Felix said, “Can you get in touch with Qek and Nessa and make sure they’re all right?”