Jarek growled mockingly at their knowing looks, letting the tiger he could become enter his voice, and shook his head. “Four hours and then we switch. Send someone around if everyone doesn’t get up. Without the computer, we can’t set the alarms.”
As he went toward the engine room door, Evan joined them. They walked in silence through the corridor until Jackson veered off toward the cockpit.
“I hope you have a plan,” Evan said.
“I do,” Jarek lied. He thought of Mei, still smelling her desire for him lingering in his memory. The wild cat in him wanted to shift, go after her and lay claim. The urge was strong, too strong for his liking.
“That was almost convincing,” Evan said. “The slow courting is nice and all, but we don’t have the time. Maybe you should go and see if she needs anything. Make sure she’s warm enough, safe enough.”
Jarek chuckled softly though he didn’t feel amused. Every nerve burned to possess her, to make her his. That scared him. The passion was too much, too hot. With every blink, he saw her long hair flowing about her slender body. She was so delicate, so tiny. Her face was so beautiful, exotically so. Even her smell appeared sweeter than other women he had known. In all his sixty- two years, he’d never reacted so strongly.
“Fine. I’ll go to her. If you truly think that is best.” Jarek wondered why he was hesitating.
“By the way you were looking at each other over dinner...” Evan paused, grinning. “Let’s just say a person doesn’t have to be telepathic to figure out what’s going on between you two. I was surprised you didn’t finish what was there.”
“Of course I desire her. She’s beautiful.” Jarek motioned his hand in dismissal as if it was no big deal.
“All right,” Evan agreed.
“It’s been a while since we had leisure time,” he continued.
“Mm-hmm. It’s been a bit.”
“And the fact that she desires me is to be understood. I do not lack in charm. Many women find me attractive.”
“Okay.”
“Oh, Sacred cats! Shut your mouth, Evan. I wish to hear no more of your nonsense.” Jarek walked faster.
Accursed telepath! Thinks he knows everything.
Jarek suddenly stopped, finding himself at Mei’s door. He lifted his hand toward the scanner, hesitated, took a deep breath and then lowered it again. Staring at the rigid steel door, he didn’t move. He let his senses shift and enhance so he could sense her beyond the metal. Imagination helped as he pictured her resting on the bed, her dark hair fanned out around her face, her eyes closed, those dark lashes against her cheeks.
Her smell wrapped around his senses. It called to him. He again lifted his hand. One peek to make sure she was all right was all he needed. Just to make sure she didn’t require anything. Running his hand over the sensor, he waited for the door to slide open. His eyes changed with the power of the cat-shifter, and they instantly went to the bed.
An empty mattress was all he saw before a fist swung for his face. It smacked his nose. The blow was hard, taking him off guard. He’d been so focused on keeping his desires at bay, that he’d dropped his defenses. Falling back, he grunted as a knee hit his gut. He smelled Mei without seeing her. She struck his back, knocking him over to the floor with surprising force.
Jarek growled as he heard her run down the corridor. Her steps were light, but he detected her direction easily. Leaping to his feet, he ran after her.
“Mei,” he said harshly, rubbing his jaw. Her punch had hurt. He was impressed.
“Stay away from me, pirate,” he heard her whisper. Suddenly, her footfalls stopped. Jarek ran faster, sure he was about to reach her.
Frowning when he didn’t immediately catch up to her, he stopped, sniffing around. He hadn’t heard any of the doors lift. Catching the faintest trace, he looked up. One of the panels was removed from the top of the corridor. Wires hung out. It would be a tight fit, but Mei was tiny. Jumping, he grabbed the edge and pulled his weight up so he could look down it. The narrow space was dark, but his eyesight cut easily through the blackness. There was no trace of Mei, except for her scent. She’d jumped up into the corridor ceiling and scurried away. Since he was too big to fit up there, he’d never explored that part of his ship. Lucien and Viktor might be the only guys he could send after her, but he needed them to work on repairs.
Angry, he slowly lowered his body down to the corridor floor. Mei could be anywhere on the ship and, unfortunately, he couldn’t access the system to find her. Well, if she wanted to sleep on cold metal, tangled in wires, he would let her.
It’s not as if she can go anywhere.
Rubbing his sore jaw, he went back to the engine room. After telling the guys to watch what they said because Mei was on the loose, he took the map from Jackson and went back to his own quarters. Sure, he could spend the entire night searching for her, but he had a feeling it would do little good. He also didn’t sense a killer in her, so there would be no harm to his crew. Besides, they could handle themselves. Touching his face, he chuckled. Maybe he should worry about it, just a little.
14
Mei grunted, biting her lip as she tried to wiggle through a tight spot in the ductwork along the corridor ceiling. Wires, pipes, circuits, computer access panels and a few things she was sure they’d just stored up in the dusty place, crowded her in. Sneezing, she cursed silently as she paused to make sure no one had heard her.
Men. Couldn’t they be bothered to get the ship cleaned? They had droids for this sort of thing. It’s a surprise this hunk of tin flies at all with the way they take care of it.
Seeing a broken cleaning droid through a thin band of light coming from below, she chuckled. It seemed the dust was too much for even it to handle. She pushed the little unit out of her way and crawled forward on her stomach. The fit might be tight, but she had to laugh as she thought of how perfect it was. There was no way Jarek was coming up after her. Though, it would be funny to watch him get stuck trying.
Hearing clanking, she followed the sounds. A soft murmur of voices grew steadily. It was the crew. Peeking through a seam in the ceiling, she saw a blur of movement followed by laughter.
There was more clanking and the sound of lasers being used. She adjusted her weight, tilting her head back and forth to try and get a better view. It was no use. She couldn’t make out more than the blur of colors as the men moved past her line of vision. Mei tried to breathe slowly through her nose, so she didn’t inhale too much dust.
“I’m sure Rick’s fine,” one of the men said.
“There’s nothing we can do right now anyway,” another answered.
Mei leaned closer, turning her head to see through the seam. The voices sounded familiar, but they were too foreign for her to make out who was who.
“Do you think that woman will be all right crawling around up there?”
Mei pressed her ear to metal, listening very closely.
“Sure she will, Evan. There’s nothing up there but wires.”
“Jarek didn’t seem worried.”
“Give me that bottle.”
“Hey, I wasn’t done with that.”
A round of laughter followed by a loud bang, as if someone had thrown a tool, echoed from below.
“Lochlann figure out where we are yet?”
So far, Jarek hadn’t spoken. By the way someone had said his name, she guessed he wasn’t part of the group. A flash of red skin passed her view, and she knew it was Dev.
“Somewhere along the X, that’s all I’ve heard.”
“Yeah,” there was a pause and the sound of a bottle being set down. “We’re adrift in the stars.”
“Nothing in sight.”
Mei frowned. Her stomach knotted. Did these pirates get them lost? Were they all going to die floating around in space like some kind of galactic waste?
“No one will ever know to look for us here.”
They sounded worried. She waited, breath held.
“Sta-a-a-rs all ‘round us,�
� one of the men broke into song. His voice wasn’t bad though the tone of the music was strange to her ears.
“My galactic playma-a-a-a-a-a-te and me,” the others joined in, a slightly frightening off-key melody, as they sang about stars and night and the loving arms of well-endowed prostitutes.
Mei suppressed a laugh, covering her fingers over her mouth, even as a smile crossed over her face. Laying her head down, she just listened to them. They didn’t seem like a bad bunch of guys. She didn’t detect any malice in them. Strange, but if she hadn’t seen them with her own eyes, she wouldn’t have taken them for pirates.
As the song ended, they laughed.
“Ah, I miss Ruby. The way she danced! Ow! Ow-ooo!”
“Mm, Topaz, my dark sugar coated goddess of love.”
“Diamond, she had eyes like stars and the body of a…mmm.”
“Didn’t you hear, Vik? Diamond got married. Some guy named Liam. He’s her bodyguard now and won’t let me within fifty feet of her.”
“No, say it isn’t so,” the one they called Vik exclaimed.
“I’d like to guard that body. Talk about a lucky man. I proposed to all three of them. They all said no.”
“Ah, I’m sure you were just too much man for them, Jackson.”
“Don’t talk about those women,” Dev’s voice interrupted. Now his she recognized. “You’ll only depress yourselves and I’ll have to listen to you whine all night about how you don’t have any women.”
“Hey, don’t tell, man. We have a tough image to uphold,” Vik answered.
Again there was laughter.
“You wouldn’t know true love if it hit you,” Dev grumbled.
“She did hit me once,” Vik said. “Had a monster of a right hook. Mm, she was gorgeous.”
A loud snort sounded.
“Whoa, someone is touchy? Need a little action, Dev?”
“A little...” A throat cleared. “Uh-hem. Action of the high skies?”
Laughter sounded.
“Ah, not that one again,” Dev protested, his voice loud and pleading.
“What’s wrong, Dev?” Vik cried. “Don’t you like to sing?”
“I like silence much better,” Dev answered, sounding brusque.
The men instantly broke out into a lively, robust song.
“Our birth was a hard one, or so we’ve been told, our mothers were harlots our fathers out cold. The doctor was drunk, lads, the bartender did pour, as we shot out with the thunder and came with a roar.”
Mei bit the back of her hand to keep from laughing. The song was atrocious, worse than the first. She’d never heard anything like it. She’d never heard men like these. Their vigorous singing continued.
“Up from the trenches of Ole Skull and Bones, we swabbed that cold deck and that black how it shone. The cap’n was surly, lads, and the crew stank a lot, as each one grew famous down to the last shot.
“No dry land for us, we pay our due to the sky, and so we shall e’er ‘til the day we do die. No tears for a pirate, lads, for shed them we not. Our life we do live for that’s what we got.
“And we sail the high skies, looking for gold, looking for treasures that never grow old. The wind in our sails, lads, the stars at our feet, as we plunder for women, thick brown, and good mead.”
A round of laughter broke out as the song ended. Mei pushed up on her hands, crawling backward the way she’d come. She had a ship to explore before showing herself again, and she had those kidnaped women to find. They began their pirating song once more, much to Dev’s grumbling. She knew by the way they slurred that they had to be far into their cups. The clanking became louder as they worked.
Wonderful, she thought, lost in space with a group of drunken pirates. Not even great-grandmother, with all her afterlife wisdom, could have predicted this.
15
Jarek tensed but didn’t open his eyes. A noise had jerked him from sleep, not that he’d been sleeping that well to begin with. He’d been dreaming of Mei, of making love to her. His shaft was hard, needy, so full it felt like it would burst. Why hadn’t he taken her offer in the dining hall? If he had just given her what she’d wanted there and then, without suddenly worrying that he wanted her too much, his body wouldn’t ache so badly.
Desired her too much.
He took a deep breath. Now, alone and deprived in his dark quarters, it sounded foolish.
He listened to his room, mentally traveling over the wide space. He had the captain’s quarters, the largest sleeping chambers on the ship. Thick, blue carpet covered the metal floor, which muffled sounds. In the corner was a small, round table with a computer built into the dark wood base. Any game imaginable could be played on it. Two thick-cushioned chairs were by the table. Their dark blue matched the floor.
There was a cream colored couch with computer controls in the arms and a viewing screen he’d installed especially so he could watch Old Earth transmissions. Most of what the ship stored was Old Earth documentaries on the acts of mating, thanks to Viktor sharing his great collection. They were a ship favorite. However, there were also plenty of action films. Most of them were funny, but they had big fiery explosions and creative fights that made them pleasurable to watch. He especially liked the ones where the flying humans danced on the tree tops while fighting in the limbs, leaping about. He’d never met a humanoid with such a graceful ability, but the way the Lintianese moved came close.
Not detecting anything with the viewing screen, he mentally drew his attention across to the other side. His bed was along a wall. It retracted to make more space, not that it was really needed. A large decontaminator with seats and the door was opposite the couch. Jarek couldn’t sense anything there either.
Then, the faintest trace of Mei drifted over him. She was near. He stretched out his senses, not moving as he felt for her. She was above him, in the ceiling. Jarek slept naked by habit and adjusted his legs as if in sleep. He pulled the covers down his chest to just above his ever-stiffening erection.
He was so focused, he heard her breath catch and then quicken. She was spying on him. Jarek forced himself to stay calm when every nerve was tense with lust. Moaning lightly, he drew the sheet down, so the tip of his arousal was exposed. It took all his energy not to touch himself. Jarek bent his knees, letting them fall open. It was erotic, knowing she watched him, knowing what he did turned her on even more than it did him.
A small sound, like a ceiling panel being adjusted caught his attention. He detected the air stirring with movement. Was she coming into his room?
Mei dropped lightly to the floor. He waited, sensing her hesitance, a trace of her fear. She wasn’t leaving.
Suddenly, the tension coiled within him sprung, causing him to strike out like a givre. He saw something sharp and metallic in her hand, outlined by the dim light from his wall panel. Grabbing her wrist, he blocked off any attack. It wasn’t necessary. Her hand was relaxed, and the surprise of his assault caused her to drop a ragged piece of metal. Whatever her intent had been in coming to his room, she’d not gone through with the idea. Her body was too off guard, and she was too surprised to be in an offensive fighting mode.
Mei’s rounded eyes met his as he stood next to the bed. The air was warm, and he felt the heat centering between his thighs. She looked down, her gaze stopping on his thick erection. He followed her eyes. Only her clothing stood between them. The knowledge was too much.
Jarek jerked her forward by the wrist he had captured. Her small body fit against him, and he automatically flexed his erection into her. The softness of her felt good, combined with the silk of her clothing. He could smell the dust on her from crawling around the ship’s ceiling.
Reaching for her face, he cupped her jaw only to drag her lips roughly forward as he leaned down to kiss her. She gasped, but let his tongue plummet into her willing mouth. Jarek devoured her with that kiss, trying to take all of her in. He breathed her air, felt her body’s every subtle movement as she accepted what was between them.
Thoughts of Rick, of making her fall in love with him, left him. He was in the moment, trapped by Mei’s spell. Whoever she was, in this moment, she was his. All his.
The soft locks of her hair tangled in his fingers. He thrust along the silk, liking the way it slid between their bodies. His hands found her shoulders, gliding easily over her silk covered back to her nice, round ass. Squeezing it, he lifted her up slightly before putting her back down. She was so light, he couldn’t resist doing it again and again, as he lifted her up and down along his harder frame. The light sound of her playful laugh washed over him.
Soon, the silk against his flesh wasn’t enough. He needed to feel her naked skin. Mei made a soft purring sound, touching his hair, his neck, and his shoulders. She whispered to him, but he couldn’t concentrate enough to understand her language. Jarek didn’t need to understand. He knew she spoke sultry words of passion and desire. He growled in response.
Eagerly, he pulled up her silk gown. She was naked beneath, and he was glad for it. The shoulder of the dress fell aside, exposing one small breast. He growled in the back of his throat, beyond words of any kind. Animal instinct took over completely.
Grabbing her hips, he lifted her up. Mei wrapped her arms around his neck, keeping their kiss deep. Her legs found a hold along his waist as her moist slit pressed tightly to his stomach. She wiggled against him. He didn’t bother lying down. The need was too urgent.
Guiding her hips, he drew her along his arousal. He lifted her up and down, letting her body’s moisture wet him. She gasped, arching back. Jarek instantly dropped his face to her exposed breast, sucking it between his lips. She tasted sweet and smelled even better. He liked the way her breast filled his mouth.
Jarek thrust, pulling her down onto his ready shaft. Just as he imagined, her body was tight, clinging erotically to him as he stretched her to fit. The wet cream of her was heavenly as he eased in and out, working against her, spreading her wider, making her take him all in.
The Pirate Prince Page 8