Chapter 10

Princess strummed her guitar quietly, unable to stop the flow of tears that slid down her face at the painful memory.

Colonel Cronus had been right.

How he could have known such a thing at that time was beyond her, but it was quickly becoming clear to the Swan that she was not able to be a part of the G-Force Team any longer. The problem was that if she wasn't a part of the team, then she didn't know what she would do. Perhaps Chief Anderson could find her another position within Galaxy Security.

But she didn't want another position. The Swan was who Princess was; that persona was as much a part of her as her emerald eyes or her ability to play the guitar.

She would just have to give it one more try. And this time, she was utterly determined that her resolve would not fail her.

But that resolve crumbled a moment later when the door to the Ready Room opened, revealing the Commander.

Princess looked up, her emerald green eyes meeting his cerulean ones in an unspoken acknowledgement of the illicit actions that had occurred between them only a few hours before.

Princess lowered her gaze, furious with herself for even looking at her Commander. Nervously she strummed her guitar, but the music was off key, and she hit more than a few bad notes. She spied on the Eagle through the curtain of ebony hair that fell over her face.

Mark stared at Princess from the doorway, quiet and unmoving. Princess wished that he would leave, as she did not know how much longer she could concentrate with him standing in the same room with her. The longer he waited, the more difficult it became for her to pretend that nothing was wrong. Her hands trembled. Her throat went dry. Her entire body tingled with a strange restlessness and sense of anticipation.

It was becoming impossible to ignore.

Suddenly, he moved toward her. Two long, quick strides put the Eagle next to the Swan. He gently reached down, taking the guitar from her hands and placing it aside, although he was careful not to touch her as he did so. She looked up at him, her eyes shining with unshed tears.

"Princess…" he whispered.

Her mouth fell open in shock. Mark's voice was not harsh or remonstrative. Rather, it was soft, and gentle, and… pleading.

What could the Commander possibly want from her?

If only… if only it was the same thing she wanted from him.

"Mark…" she breathed, her voice betraying the intense emotional pressure she was under.

But that pressure exploded a second later as the Commander pulled her into his arms, their mouths meeting in a fiery kiss.

Princess gasped in surprise, opening herself up to Mark's tender assault. The Commander took advantage of her instant acquiescence to his passionate demands, plundering her innocent sweetness with his lips and tongue. Princess found herself floating on air, enveloped in a sense of incredulity that this was actually happening. These feelings were intermixed with an awed sense of discovery, as new sensations took over her body, showing the Swan a side of herself that she had never before imagined existed.

Mark's lips moved away from her mouth, trailing soft, scorching kisses along the edge of her face and up to her ear. Moaning enthusiastically, Princess threw her head back, only to find his lips moving across the slim, white column of her throat as his arms moved around her, supporting her in his firm embrace.

Instinctively, Princess' hands moved upward, smoothing over the cool cotton of his t-shirt to inflame the muscled flesh underneath. Mark's only response was to pull her closer to him, pressing his body against hers as he re-created the intimacy they had shared that afternoon.

Impatiently, Mark tugged at the fabric of her shirt, loosening it until he was able to slip his hands inside to caress her soft skin. Following his lead, Princess' fingers found their way beneath his shirt, softly exploring the muscular hardness that made up the Eagle.

Every movement of Mark's hands on her bare skin sent Princess to new frenetic heights. Unconsciously she mirrored his actions, hoping that they pleased him as much as his actions were pleasing her.

A familiar sound penetrated the Swan's consciousness. A chime, coming from across the room, indicating…

"Zark!"

Princess panicked, pulling away from Mark and scrambling into the opposite corner of the room just as the image of a short, rotund robot in a yellow sweater appeared on the Ready Room viewscreen.

"Team? Team?" he called in his usual annoyingly soothing tone. "Is anyone there?"

His head turned, apparently sighting the disheveled teenagers on opposite sides of the room.

"Ah, there you are, Commander. And Princess too… I'm so glad I've found you! Chief Anderson needs to see you both immediately in his office."

"Understood." growled Mark, his voice simmering with an impatient anger Princess had never before seen the usually calm Commander exhibit.

Apparently the clueless 7-Zark-7 did not notice the Eagle's dangerous tone.

"Wonderful! Chief Anderson will be so pleased to hear that you…"

The inane robot's image disappeared from the viewscreen as a Sonic Boomerang swooped by the communications panel, deactivating the connection. Two seconds later, the Commander was next to Princess, reaching out to pull her into his arms again.

"Uh… Mark…" Princess stammered, attempting to avoid his embrace, "I don't like it either, but if the Chief really wants to see us…"

"I know." the Eagle scowled. But he sent the Swan a smoldering look a second later.

"Tonight, then."

It was a promise, rather than a question.

"Tonight." agreed Princess, blushing redder than her t-shirt.

88888

The two G-Force members walked down the hallway, keeping as far apart from each other as possible. Both of them clearly understood that even the slightest physical contact between them would send their bodies into a frenzy, which at the moment they could ill afford.

However, it was now absolutely clear to the couple that both Mark and Princess were looking forward to the continuation of their physical encounter… as soon as was reasonably possible.

Princess was practically floating down the hallway. Mark had kissed her! He had initiated the intimacy between them! Apparently he was just as caught up in this… whatever it was… as she was! And he wanted to see her again, tonight.

And nothing would prevent her from doing just that.

But for the moment, they had been summoned, and difficult though it was, at the moment duty prevailed.

Entering the Chief's office, Princess darted over to the far wall, away from where the Condor was lounging near Anderson's desk. Mark walked over to Jason's position, a smug expression crossing his features as he saw the frank curiosity his second directed at him.

But there was no time for the Condor to satisfy his curiosity, as Chief Anderson chose that moment to enter the room and begin speaking.

"Thank you all for assembling so quickly." the Chief said. "This time, I have good news to impart."

Everyone looked at each other in happy astonishment. This was a rare event.

"What is it?" Jason asked with exaggerated casualness.

"The information that Princess was able to obtain from the Spectran base has been very useful." Anderson revealed. "Apparently Zoltar is trying to develop a fire weapon similar to the Fiery Phoenix. But, by destroying the Spectran mecha and base in Madagascar, we have bought ourselves time to develop a counter to this weapon."

"Breet… doot… still working… doot… on it?" Keyop questioned.

"Yes." the Chief nodded. "We made it appear to the Spectrans as if the destruction of the base was complete. They have every reason to assume that we were not able to recover any of this data. And once Zoltar puts that much time and effort into something, he is generally inclined to stick with it."

"However," Anderson continued, "by destroying the base we cut off the Spectran's source of quadriline, and it will take them some time and effort to locate another. In the meantime, as I said before, Galaxy Security will be able to work on appropriate counter-measures."

"So, we just have to wait around for the Spectrans to finish this thing?" Tiny asked dejectedly.

"That's the good news." the Chief smiled. "We're fairly confident that the Spectrans will be quiet for the next little while to complete their weapon, so I am giving you all a week's leave."

Jubilant faces looked around the room as the members of the G-Force Team smiled at each other.

They had not had any proper time off since G-Force had been activated. Princess' gaze fell on Mark's face.

The Commander was staring at her with an eagerness she found both thrilling and captivating.

The prospect of a week off had never been more exciting.

"Can I go visit Captain Jack?" Tiny asked eagerly.

"Broot… me too!" Keyop cried.

"That sounds fine." the Chief agreed. "And Jason, I know that there's a big race in Daytona Beach this week. The Federation can see to it that you qualify, if you'd like."

"That would be great!" Jason's grin spread from ear to ear.

"I guess I could ask Jill for some extra shifts." Princess said quietly. "I could use the extra cash."

"Me too." Mark added. "I could actually schedule some air deliveries."

"Dreet… droot… bor-ing!" Keyop declared. "You two… breep… no fun!"

But Mark and Princess just grinned quietly to themselves. They both knew that neither of them had any intention of working for the next week.