Chapter 1
Zarik glanced over as he saw the town through the darkness.
It had been a whole year almost now. An entire year of getting her settled in, getting Deva off their backs, getting them both through an integration period he never imagined.
But worst of all, an entire year of staring and lusting. She had a sexy body now that she'd fully filled out. And she knew it. No way she couldn't when she purposely teased him with it.
Angela rearranged herself in the passenger seat, crossing her delicate ankles on the dash.
Hell knew how many times he'd told her in the first couple months to keep her boots off the dash of the motor-home.
Now, she made sure she kept her boots off and even went so far as to not wear socks when she did it. He clenched his hand on the steering wheel.
It wasn't that he minded her putting her feet up like that, because it really had been just her boots that bothered him. What he griped to himself about was that even her feet could seem cute to him.
He'd grown used to Deva agents coming down looking like supermodels of the old days. Angela was worse because she was his type.
Feisty, combat knowledgeable, handled a gun so well he wanted to see how she handled his.
And he wasn't talking about the rifle.
Still a bit on the short side and he loved it, kept that long blond hair though it was not in two tails anymore, and wore some unintentionally revealing clothes most times.
He pulled into the spot he normally used in this town.
Angela finally looked up when he cut the engine.
"Here finally?" She asked as she set aside her book.
It was dangerous to drive with the overhead light on like this because it cut his range of vision down, but he just couldn't deny her when she made such cute sounds over little things in the book she was reading.
He guessed it was a romance type book from the little bit he'd gotten to see of the back cover description.
"Yeah." He motioned for her to head for the back first.
Partly because he did still have manners, partly just because he liked looking at her ass. He'd gotten plenty stealthy enough over the past year. He knew she'd get in a huff and be mad at him if she caught him looking at her like that. But he couldn't help it. He did adhere to the strict policy of 'look but don't touch' at least.
He hadn't stooped that low just yet.
She didn't disappoint this time either. The way those jeans molded to her skin, he was surprised they weren't painted on.
Zarik reached to turn off the light as she headed for the side door.
He cut it out before she fully got there and he heard her stumble.
A year and she still hadn't memorized the layout?
"Dingo." She groaned. "Fuck you."
He snickered in the dark as he came up behind her.
"You can dream." He retorted. He definitely would.
It wasn't uncommon for her to cuss at him. She did it a lot actually. Saying that particular phrase was new.
She knew he was lewd sometimes; he even dared to say she'd gotten used to it. She generally tried to avoid situations where he could get away with being a lech.
He reached past her, putting his other hand on her hip, and undid the latch on the door before pulling the handle.
"Like I'd dream of that." Her voice changed as she caught her breath and he knew she lied.
She pushed out of the door and he followed, catching the back of her shirt when she would have gone face first into rough gravel.
"Come on Ang, one day I'm not going to be here to catch you." He said jokingly as she regained her footing.
In the dim moonlight, he saw her flinch and her shoulders drop.
"Don't say such stupid shit." Again her voice changed, sounding almost scared.
Of him not being there? Or of her actually hitting the ground?
Zarik stepped down and headed for the building he'd parked near.
"We need to report in." He said.
"Right." She sighed.
He led the way into the building.
xXx
Angela stared at Dingo as he read the letter the manager had handed him.
He took a ragged breath in and she stepped closer as he moved to a chair.
His pocket was bulged out from the payment they'd gotten and he shifted it when he sat.
She frowned as he looked over the letter again. When he balled the page up in his fist and then rubbed over his face with his other hand, she reached out.
"Dingo? What's wrong?"
He looked up at her and she swore he looked lost. In pain. Afraid.
No way. This man couldn't be afraid. He always seemed the opposite of afraid.
"Is it bad?" She asked.
"I...I'm sorry. Change of plans. I...need to go home." He stood up and moved away from her.
Angela let her hand fall to her side.
She glanced around the sand colored room to verify they hadn't left anything before hurrying after Dingo.
She hesitated as he approached the motor-home door. He had said 'he' needed to go, not 'we' as in both of them. Maybe this was something personal.
He pulled open the door and jumped up smoothly.
Her steps faltered as he vanished into the dark.
It brought those words back to her. Someday he wouldn't be around.
That hit her like a brick.
He was rude, obnoxious, obscene, and more than a little perverted, but he was all she knew here.
Even back before she'd lost everything, she hadn't exactly had much to call her own as it was. But Dingo felt like...hers. Her friend, her companion, maybe even...her family. Maybe their banter and camaraderie was what having a loved one was like.
Angela was so caught up in being afraid Dingo would leave that when the engine started she nearly fell to the ground.
She looked at the still open side door and realized he was waiting on her.
She rushed to the door and cleared the rise in one step before pulling the door closed behind her.
"I'm sorry to just change things up like this." He said. She looked to the cab as he turned the overhead light on.
She shook her head as she moved to her seat. "It's important isn't it? I'm just here for the ride."
He sighed. "Still, you could have stayed behind. Done a job by yourself."
She got the odd feeling he was relieved she was coming along. "And show you up while you can't defend yourself? The guys would never let you live it down if I did missions faster than you by myself."
He cracked a grin and she felt herself grinning back.
Almost thirty minutes now he'd looked distraught, ever since he'd been given that letter.
It just wasn't like him to seem so down.
"That sounds like a challenge to me." He said.
She scoffed. But at least he didn't seem as upset. He was almost back to the Dingo she knew and loved.
Angela paused as she stared out the window. He had already pulled out of town by the time she was settled into her seat.
Loved? She wouldn't go that far. Would she?
As irritating as he could be, and he'd done some horrid things over the year from the moment they met, he'd never outright tried to act on his worst harassment. He'd done that whole thing with the creepy crawlers the first time they'd met, using her to boost his income, but in fairness he had been testing her skill too. He could have handled it. How he took out her old co-workers attested to that.
Unlike her, he didn't need fancy tools or high tech gear. He had used an old laptop and some low grade antennas to find Frontier Setter. Hell, instead of using explosives, he had just tied metal cans to his buggy to piss off the bugs. His most advanced tool was his own ingenuity. And the rifle.
He'd been pissed when Angela stole it a couple months ago. But she'd wanted to show that she did appreciate him letting her stick around. So she stole it. And then dismantled one of the weapons she'd used defending Frontier Setter. She had very carefully dismantled his precious rifle and made a few modifications to it.
It had taken a lot of careful work and skill, but she'd added a laser to it. Now he could adjust the force and speed of his shots with every bullet. Or not even use a bullet at all. She had given him the ability to never run out of ammo with his favorite gun.
He'd been so mad at her when she handed it back to him that she had genuinely been afraid to give it back. And then he fired it. And was in love with it. She'd made it smoother and given it less recoil.
He'd even given her the pistol too to fix up the same way.
"You can head in back and sleep on my bed if you want. I'll be driving a few more hours tonight." He jolted her from her memories.
She turned to look at him. "I'm good."
"It's going to be a while Angela. Only one of us needs to be tired." He said.
She sighed. "I'm not tired." She was slightly, but she'd live.
He was quiet again.
Angela pulled her feet up onto her seat after slipping her boots off. Dingo hated her boots on the dash and gave her a dirty look if she brought them on the seat too.
"Dingo?"
"Hmm?"
"What's the matter?" She asked as she looked at him.
His hair was getting long and kept falling in his face. But he kept his scruff trimmed and she had to admit he looked good.
As men here went, Dingo was actually pretty handsome. In the year since she'd first met him, he'd gotten a scar on his right temple and a series of cut scars on his right arm. But even with the new scars, she still found him nice to look at.
Not that she'd tell him that. Not just out of the blue anyway.
"It's...my family." He sighed. "My baby sister...was kidnapped and raped. Apparently not the first in a string of it either. My brother sent me a letter telling me about it. My father intercepted it and added on begging me to come home and fix this problem."
She watched his hands tighten on the wheel. "I don't understand why they didn't contact their local guild earlier. She wasn't the first. And why didn't my brother take care of her? I know he's a lazy shit, but he should have been watching out for her. For all of them."
Angela reached over and touched his right arm. "We'll fix it Dingo."
He sighed and moved his right hand to hold hers. "I know. I just...I should have been aware of this already. It's not like I'm unreachable. I have a phone."
He let go of her hand and she turned to curl up and stare out the window.
xXx
Zarik glanced over as he drove. She'd been quiet for an hour now and didn't have her book in her hands.
He leaned just a bit and saw her face. Silly fool was asleep.
He reached to nudge her and she didn't respond. She was out good.
The engine stayed at the same volume as he eased to a stop. He got up and leaned over her.
He knew if he tried to pick her up, she'd wake up. Instead, he unwrapped his shawl and carefully draped it over her.
She shivered for a second before he watched her latch her hand on it and grip it tight.
His little warrior. She acted so big and tough, but he knew she was a softer woman.
In all the best places too.
He made sure she was tucked completely in before sitting back down and getting back on the road. If he drove all night, he could be in Oasis by morning.
He glanced at Angela again.
Damn she was cute all wrapped up in his shawl.