Gloria

GLORIA

Copyright 2016 Deelylah Mullin

Published by Deelylah Mullin Wordsmith at Smashwords

Smashwords Edition License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your enjoyment only, then please return to Smashwords.com or your favorite retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. And resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons—living or dead—is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of the author.

Deelylah Mullin Wordsmith

P.O. Box 246, Freeland, MI 48623

Gloria by Deelylah Mullin Copyright 2016

Editors: Paige Prince and B.

Cover Artist: Kris Norris

ISBN:

All rights reserved, which includes the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever except as provided by the U.S. Copyright Law. For information, address Deelylah Mullin Wordsmith, P.O. Box 246, Freeland, MI 48623

Table of Contents

Chapter One

ChapterTwo

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

About Deelylah Mullin

Acknowledgements

Gloria

As Jemma is sent into space in search of the Helios, she never imagines her life will change. Comfortable in a friends-with-benefits relationship with Devlin and committed to her lady love, Talia, she wasn’t looking for anyone new in her life.

When she meets Amun Sophor, convicted by the Socius Union for speaking his mind and living a life true to his heart, Jemma has to think fast and stay on her toes or risk shackles—even death.

Faced with a decision between what’s comfortable and taking a risk, Jemma needs to choose wisely—or condemn herself and others to a life of uncertainty.

Chapter One

Dawn broke over the horizon. I lay in bed as the first rays of light from Timmus’ twin suns crept through my window. I rolled, burying my face in a pillow and pulling the woolen blanket over my head, to block the morning brilliance from my tired eyes.

I tried to recall the previous night, but a few too many pints of Jynohol erected a brick wall. Yeah. The previous night could be chalked up in the lost column. My head was full of fog, and I knew nothing but time would clear it. I really should know better. Work is going to be hell today.

It definitely was going to be a…challenge to sit through the morning staff meeting with Talia and Devlin, but the saving grace of that situation was that they were probably just as hungover as I was. Talia had messaged me the previous morning, plotting our future inebriated state. It had been ages since Talia suggested we go out, so I jumped at the chance to get the gorgeous communications technology expert drunk and in my bed again.

The familiar tick tick alert from my vid line began across the room. I glanced toward the screen. Speak of the devil… I tossed on my ratty bathrobe. The once-soft tufts of fabric, now pilled and shedding, left a maroon trail across the heated taupe tile as I padded across the room.

I hit the answer button. Bitch, this better be good.

Talia’s pixie face appeared on the screen. She reminded me of the vintage Earth actress Audrey Hepburn I learned about in that film class I took. Big doe eyes and pale skin topped with a shock of flame red hair, currently sticking out at awkward angles. So, how’re you feeling this morning, Communications Expert Voren? Ready for a lovely meeting with myself and Supervisor Tarpin? Her smirk was adorable.

Devin Tarpin was not only Talia and my supervisor. He was also our lover. We had this weird friends-with-benefits thing going on. Everyone knew; no one said anything.

I’d rather be meeting with Talia and Devin. In my bed. Another time, I suppose.

Talia’s eyes grew impossibly wider. She gasped, and the sound was so sexy I nearly melted. She shifted from side to side. You do that for shock value. Brat.

I leaned forward a little, staring directly at her heart-shaped face. "I was ready to meet last night, but as I recall, someone had other plans after plying me with pint after pint of Jynohol." That stuff kicks my ass. With grain grown on Jyn, one of the three moons of our planet, the nature of the soil makes it ferment with a smooth finish.

But we had fun last night—with our clothes on. We don’t do that enough, Jemma. Talia glanced to the side, and a bottle of Emanian Water rose in the frame. She sipped from it. From the pristine waterfalls all over the planet Eman, the stuff was known to cure practically any ailment, including morning after regrets laced with borderline alcohol poisoning. Her throat worked in a delicate undulation as she downed half the container. I left you Emanian and some B-complex on your nightstand when I put you in bed.

That she had. Talia always thought about the little things. I should take a page from her book and do the same, but it wasn’t how I was wired.

No, I’d been raised by self-centered parents who didn’t care about each other—let alone me—and I was a hot mess by any standards. In it for the minute, and all that jazz. Give me the Jynohol, a hot body beneath my hands, and I was a happy camper. Emotional connections be damned. Feelings were a complication I didn’t have time for. Except Talia. She’d managed to flit her way into my heart. Even though I couldn’t actually say the words, I loved her. And she knew it.

Sec. Lemme get those on-board. I slogged over to the nightstand and snagged the Emanian Water, a tingle running through my fingers, the clear glass bottle, cool in my hand. Talia must’ve put a cold force field around it. I palmed the B-complex and went back to the vid screen.

Is it still cold? Took me a minute to set the force field last night. Your dresser top wasn’t accepting it very easily. Her brows furrowed as she stared into the camera. It seemed as though she were sitting across the table from me.

Yeah. Still cold. I flipped the top on the bottle and popped the tablet in my mouth before taking a big swig of the fortified liquid. Ahhh. That’ll help. Something’s got to.

Talia’s eyes softened, her thick lashes sweeping down and brushing her cheek when she slowly blinked. Okay. I just wanted to make sure you were up. Can’t miss the meeting this morning. There’s a memo on your tablet about Amphus attending for some gods-awful reason.

Neither of us liked Kalla Amphus, director of the Socius Union. She was a strong, imposing woman who spoke her mind and had absolutely no filter. And, with my own lack of self-preservation, it was never a good combination. The woman brought out the worst in me—or seemed to always catch me at my worst.

I narrowed my eyes and took in Talia’s fine features and full lips, my libido kicking into high gear. Better get a move on, before this little wake-up call escalates into something that’ll make us both late. I’ll see you at the meeting. Save me a seat.

I hit the end button on the vid com and sat back in my pleather desk chair. I circulated few deep breaths through my system. In through the nose, out through the mouth. Talia revved me up, but it was time to chill the fuck out and get my head in the game. Amphus wasn’t going to wait for me, and she was likely to find any chink in my armor she could exploit.

About thirty minutes later, I was showered, dressed, and hoped my pores weren’t sweating out the mass quantities Jynohol I consumed last night. The B-complex and Emanian water seemed to be doing the trick, and my head wasn’t pounding as I wound my way through the complex system of hallways, tubes, and lift systems in the expansive Socius Union building.

I stopped outside the council meeting room in our branch of the complex. A few more deep breaths—mostly to calm my heart rate after practically running to be on time—and I stepped in front of the door sensor.

A red laser beam scanned my body from top to bottom before a tinny, mechanical voice came over the small speaker over the door. Jemma Voren, Communications Expert in Languages. Cleared for admittance.

The door slid inside the wall, and the three people seated at the large glass-topped table turned.

Talia’s round eyes were even more expressive in person—a product of her Emanian and Earthen heritage. She made my nerve ending sizzle every time she looked at me—and most of the time, she looked at me with pity. Didn’t matter—I’d take any attention I could garner from my best friend, the woman who’d stolen part of my heart, if it meant I could get her between the sheets later—even if it were just a pity fuck. I’d do anything to be close to her.

Devlin Tarpin, my direct supervisor, tapped his bottom lip with a long finger. His digits were magical, and seemed to know my body better than I did—sometimes. The brilliant blue of his eyes shone past curly, dark lashes that seemed to sweep down in disdain as he glanced toward Kalla Amphus.

Nice of you to join us, CEL Voren. Amphus’ pretentious voice resonated through my body and made me want to vomit.

Seriously, it wasn’t the hangover. It was the woman’s voice. I couldn’t stand to be in the same room with her. She set my nerves on edge, and I was always looking for her angle. She didn’t broadcast her end-game like many of the junior directors—which was probably why she was the bigwig she was.

Nice to see you, too, Kalla. I used her first name with