Popp, Robin T. - Too Close to the Sun

Title: Too Close to the Sun
Author: Robin T. Popp
Series:
Pub: Love Spell
Pub Date: July 2003
ISBN: 050552547X
Genre:
Time Period:
Setting:
Hero: Nicoli Romanof
Heroine: Angel Torrence

Summary:

Galactic smuggler Angel Torrence resents Colonel Nicoli Romanof from the first order he barks at her. His disembodied voice instructs her to set a course for the most perilous planet in the solar system.

On the riskiest mission of his career, Nicoli allowed his life essence and his physical form to be separated. Now he needs the cocky pilot who's stolen his vessel to help him retrieve his person and destroy the deadly race of aliens.

Angel will move heaven and earth to prove she is up to the task. But she never expects the colonel's physique to be so magnificent, nor his heart to be so courageous. And when passion flares between them, she knows they've found love.

Excerpt:

     “You’re not afraid.”
     It was more observation than question and Nicoli Alexandres Romanof did not bother to respond. Though he could sense his friend’s unease, short of changing his mind, there was nothing he could do to lessen it.
    There were others on the beach, enjoying the night-fishing, the stars, the moonlight, each other. A couple sat watching as the incoming surf chased their young children up the shore. Their peals of laughter floated to Nicoli on a salty breeze and mingled with the soft crash of waves. For a moment he paused to watch, conscious of his lack of happy childhood memories. A pang of guilt assailed him and he wished he could warn them all, send them away to safety. But he couldn’t. He wouldn’t. If the beach were empty, then they wouldn’t come, and it was imperative that they show up. Even knowing that some of the others on the beach would die horribly tonight did not alter his resolve. He tried to find solace in the knowledge that what he was doing was more important than the loss of these innocent lives; that the good of many often comes at the sacrifice of a few. Failing, he forced his attention back to his task.
     “This will do,” he said softly, selecting a patch of beach somewhat away from the others.
     The older man merely nodded and reached into his inner jacket pocket to remove a slim silver disc, no larger than the palm of his hand. Next he took off the chain he wore around his neck, at the end of which hung a clear crystal tube, about four fingers width in length. He stared at them, doubt clearly in his eyes.
     “It’ll work,” Nicoli reassured him, nodding to the disc.
     “This is not your best idea, Alex.”
     Nicoli smiled at the use of his middle name. Only Yanur Snellen persisted in calling him Alex because, in Yanur’s words, “Colonel Romanof was too military and Nicoli sounded too formal.” Nicoli tolerated it, not because Yanur was the most brilliant scientist he’d ever met, but because Yanur was his friend. In a universe full of people, he only had one of those.
     “If the Harvestors do show up tonight,” Yanur continued, “and this plan of yours works, it could be days, even weeks, before your life essence is returned to your body.” He paused before quietly adding, “I don’t know if I’ll be able to put it back.”
     “I’m not going to change my mind.”
     “This whole plan is crazy. What if I run into problems tracking your body? What if I never find it?”
     “Let Richardson worry about tracking my body. That’s why I hired him.”
     “Okay, let’s say we find your body, but can’t put you back? Are you prepared to live the rest of your life in this?” He held up the tube.
     Nicoli sighed. “If you can’t put me back, then have my body programmed for sex and give it to your maiden aunt as a present. Don’t think I haven’t seen the way she looks at me. This way, the old girl can do what she wants with my body and I won’t be around to care.”

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