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By Leigh M. Lorien

The Interplanetary Guild of Human Affairs sends out dozens of delegations to planets all around the galaxy. Four of the Guild’s employees -- Star, Nate, Fara, and Josh -- grew close on one such delegation, and over the course of five years on assignment, developed a comfortable, happy relationship.

Then the assignment ends, the group returns to the new human homeworld, Reyhan, where they receive new orders. For the first time in years, they are going to be separated. Between the far-flung locations and length of assignments, there is no way to know when they’ll be together again.

But Star is not one to simply take what the world throws at them. As a respected bodyguard and security officer, Star’s existence revolves around protecting precious things. Nothing in the galaxy is more precious than their partners’ happiness. With countless variables to consider and dozens of ways it could all fall apart, will it be possible for the group to stay together?

• Language: English
• Publisher: JMS Books LLC
• Release date: Sep 7, 2019
• ISBN: 9781646560295

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Home

By Leigh M. Lorien

Published by JMS Books LLC

Visit jms-books.com for more information.

Copyright 2019 Leigh M. Lorien

ISBN 9781646560295

Cover Design: Written Ink Designs | written-ink.com

Image(s) used under a Standard Royalty-Free License.

All rights reserved.

WARNING: This book is not transferable. It is for your own personal use. If it is sold, shared, or given away, it is an infringement of the copyright of this work and violators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

No portion of this book may be transmitted or reproduced in any form, or by any means, without permission in writing from the publisher, with the exception of brief excerpts used for the purposes of review.

This book is for ADULT AUDIENCES ONLY. It may contain sexually explicit scenes and graphic language which might be considered offensive by some readers. Please store your files where they cannot be accessed by minors.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are solely the product of the author’s imagination and/or are used fictitiously, though reference may be made to actual historical events or existing locations. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Published in the United States of America.

* * * *

Home

By Leigh M. Lorien

I got my assignment.

Nate set his comm on the bedside table and returned to bed. Morning sunlight had long since started warming the room, but the rest of us—me, Fara, and Josh—had the day off, so of course we were still in bed. We hadn’t received our orders yet, but Nate was part of the consulate, so he operated on a slightly different timeline. It was hard to tell if Nate’s assignment was good news or bad news based on his behavior. He always looked reserved and serious, even when he was happy.

Well? Fara asked, when the tension had lasted too long.

Pelona 4, Nate said. I leave in a few weeks to talk the humans out of declaring war.

Josh scrunched up his nose. That doesn’t sound fun.

Yeah. My briefing packet is two hundred pages long.

We all made noises of disgust, and Nate snorted in response.

We’d officially come together as a foursome several years ago on a long-term off-planet mission. Now that we were back home on Reyhan, it was only a matter of time before the next assignment came along, and the odds of all four of us ending up together again were slim. I rolled over and threw myself across Nate’s bare chest.

Maybe I’ll get to go with you as your personal security escort, I said.

He smiled. That’d be nice.

The chances of me going to Pelona 4 with him weren’t high. I wasn’t a consulate member. They’d send their own security with him. The chances were much higher that I would go wherever Fara and Josh were going, but I wanted to keep hope alive.

Josh flopped himself over my back, crushing me against Nate. I groaned. When Fara joined the pile with a laugh, Nate protested and used his bulk to push us all off him. We toppled into a laughing pile on the bed, and he pounced on top of us.

For the moment, our upcoming separation was forgotten.

* * * *

Our orders came a few days later. The simultaneous chime of three comm pads broke into our breakfast conversation, and the four of us fell silent. Josh and Fara glanced at each other, then at me. There was only one reason that all three of our comms would go off at the same time. New orders rolled out.

We’d all been in an anxious haze since Nate received his