by Kate Rudolph
Xandr gave her a feast for the senses and made her forget anything but him.
She arched up under him as his fingers sought her out, playing little circles around her sex and torturing her with whispers of pleasure that were little more than teases. She needed the real thing right now, needed them joined together in that most primal way, needed proof that he was here with her, not just a fevered imagining stolen away in the middle of a dream.
But she couldn’t stop kissing him. On the ship they could take their time in their quarters, worshiping each other with lips and tongues and drawing things out until they both were mad with want. But she was already mad with it and there was no time to waste. The risk only heightened the pleasure, her senses on high alert for something to go wrong and drinking in everything Xandr did to her.
His cock teased her entrance and when he pushed inside, she groaned. She’d grown used to his girth, but it still took an adjustment every time he worked himself inside of her. As her body stretched she soaked up the feel of his heat pressing down on her. There was something so real in that moment, something that couldn’t be taken away.
I love you.
For a moment she feared that she’d said it aloud, but Xandr didn’t respond so she couldn’t have. She deepened the kiss to keep the words from slipping out. It was her only chance. She could feel them bunched up in her throat, spring loaded and ready to burst out into the air if she couldn’t somehow undo the coil. Now wasn’t the time, not while they were making love, not while things were so tangled up between them. He deserved to know that when she said the words they weren’t in the heat of the moment, deserved to know she meant them with her entire heart.
When he started to move, dragging his cock in and out of her and hitting all of her buttons, she stopped worrying about what she might say and surrendered to the pleasure, begging for more and dancing with him when they found their rhythm, the push and pull that they’d practiced so many times before but had been perfect from the first.
The explosion of pleasure took her by surprise, sweeping her away on a tide of sensation and leaving her mind blissfully blank for just a few minutes. Xandr followed after her, his body tightening as he found his release.
They didn’t let go of one another as they came down from the high of their shared pleasure, not even as their combined body heat made it unpleasantly warm, not as body fluids cooled and they became aware of the sticky scent of sex. They clung together, knowing that as soon as they let go they had to face the facts.
Xandr had lied and they all might be doomed for it.
HE DIDN’T HAVE MUCH time. There was never enough time. The sun would begin teasing the horizon in two hours and if Xandr was caught by the guards his entire crew would suffer. But he didn’t want to let go of Andie, didn’t want to get out of the bed and face the reality of what they would have to do come morning.
Since Zeesa had spoken with him, his one goal had been to find his woman and see that she was okay. He had to see her first, above the rest of the crew, had to know that she was dealing. Had to know she wouldn’t throw him away.
It was selfish, but he was the son of a duke and the selfishness was something he’d been born with. Keana called him out on it at times, but when it came to the people he loved, he let his inborn instincts run free. Protect. Cherish. Defend. The rest of the crew was counted in that calculation, but Andie rose above all the others.
He couldn’t tell her that yet, not when it would all sound like a loaded apology, an excuse for his poor behavior and lies.
“You know, this isn’t how I expected to meet your family,” Andie muttered, finally putting a bit of space between them. “I realize we’re from different planets and have different customs, but family members don’t kidnap each other on Earth. Not usually, at least.”
“I should have told you sooner. I’m sorry.” Apologies had never come easily, but he’d give Andie a hundred if she would stand with him.
“I can’t do this naked.” She slithered out of the bed and shimmied into her pajamas, and though Xandr would have loved nothing more than to watch her, he averted his gaze, unsure if he had the right. His own trousers hit him in the chest as Andie threw them at him and he got the hint, clothing himself as well. They’d stolen their moment, but now it was time to face the consequences of his actions. Andie began to pace once she was clothed, sending him looks every few seconds. “Did you keep quiet because you didn’t trust us?” It burst out of her and he could hear the underlying hurt.
“I trust you, all of you, but you’ve seen what Mebion can do, his resources. And after so long it was just easier to remain silent. Keana and I both fled when things became untenable. We couldn’t risk being found.” After a few years of silence it hadn’t ever been something they needed to discuss. Their secrets were their own; they didn’t belong to anyone else, no matter the danger they put others in. “For whatever it’s worth, I had planned to tell you.”
“Would have been worth more two days ago.” But she stopped pacing. “Any other secrets you’re keeping? Secretly a spy? Have another family, three wives and a dozen children? Something like that?” She smiled as she threw her outlandish accusations at him, but there was wariness in her eyes.
Xandr risked getting close, cupping her cheek and kissing her forehead. “A few outstanding warrants for arrest, perhaps, but no espionage, no secret families, no life destroying secrets.” He’d only had room in his head for the one. He wasn’t a man created to live shrouded in shadow, not any more than any outlaw did. He could play a part, run a con, as well as anyone, but when the job was over he left it behind. Living a lie bigger than the one he already lived was too much, and despite the dire situation he was awash in an overwhelming sense of relief. Andie knew. The crew knew. He didn’t need to lie to them anymore.
Andie was quiet for several moments before finally nodding. “Maybe I should hold it against you for longer, but I don’t want to be mad. God, love has made me a fucking sap.” She snapped her mouth shut as she realized what she said.
Xandr let it lie. He wanted to yell his emotions from the rooftop so that everyone, especially Andie, knew just what she meant to him, but given the way her body had stiffened and her skin had gone a bit ashen, she wasn’t ready to hear it or say it. Not yet.
But maybe soon. He hoped.
“Where are you staying?” she asked, changing the subject. “How did you get out? How do we get out?”
Xandr told her about the estate and how he wasn’t quite a prisoner due to his status. “Keana is in a precarious position, but Zeesa is working on it.”
“Who’s Zeesa?” Andie’s eyes narrowed as if she could sense another secret lurking.
“My brother’s wife,” Xandr answered promptly, before adding, “and my former betrothed. Former. Very former.”
“So that article wasn’t complete bullshit.” Andie shrugged off the knowledge that he’d been betrothed rather well, all things considered, and Xandr didn’t know whether to be relieved or not.
“What article?”
Now it was Andie’s turn to look guilty. “I might have done a bit of research on the Duke of Mebion after one of our brushes with him. You weren’t explaining why he wanted you so badly so I tried to find information on my own. I found a gossip site that talked about how the duke stole his brother’s fiancée and the brother had retired to live an ascetic life. I’m guessing that was you? And the whole retirement thing was a lie covering up the outlaw thing?”
“Do I look like an ascetic?” Had Ceetr really been lying about where Xandr was for all of these years? To what end?
“An ascetic outlaw, there’s something you don’t see every day.”
“There’s more.” Xandr couldn’t get sidetracked, not when he could feel the need to get back growing more urgent. “Zeesa and Ceetr—”
“Who?”
“The Duke of Mebion. Ceetr Xandran.” He’d gone so long not speaking his brother’s name that it was almost strange to use it so infor
mally, but the more he did it, the easier it became, the walls between his past and his present falling.
“Ceetr?” Andie’s face screwed up in confusion. “That’s such a... it’s just so normal. And he called you something else. Karday. Is that—do you want us to call you that?”
“I left Karday behind a long time ago.” And it sounded wrong on Andie’s tongue. “Karday was a useless lordling. As Xandr I’ve made something of myself, something real.”
“Xandr it is,” Andie agreed. “But go on.”
“Zeesa and the duke don’t have an... affectionate marriage. It’s purely political and my—the duke—is not an easy man to live with. She wants him gone and she wants their daughter to hold the duchy. If I help her, she says she’ll let us all go.” He couldn’t quite say exactly what she wanted, as if admitting it would make it real.
But Andie had no such qualms. “She wants you to kill your brother? That’s cold.”
“He’s expanding the slave trade on Mebion. It may be illegal in the empire, but it doesn’t matter if something is illegal when those responsible for enforcing the law are the ones breaking it.” Perhaps he wasn’t the best person to give a lecture on the importance of legality, but no one else would. “He can be cruel and cold and terrible, but he’s my brother and I don’t know if I can kill him.”
“I—”
Something screeched on the floor above them and they both froze in place. There were no windows on this floor, but Xandr knew morning was creeping in close. “I need to go. I’ll come back as soon as I can. Keep everyone’s spirits up. We’ll get out of this. Somehow.”
Whether it involved fratricide remained to be seen.
CHAPTER FIVE
WHEN ANDIE WOKE UP the second time, she would have believed her midnight rendezvous was a dream if not for the pleasant pull of her muscles and the ache in her heart from Xandr’s absence. The beds around her were empty, and by the time she made it downstairs everyone had gathered in the kitchen and was putting together breakfast. The mood was understandably dour, but not defeated. Out the window Andie spotted gray skies and the air around them felt heavy, like rain was on the way.
She had to tell the crew about Xandr’s visit. At least the second part—they could make their own assumptions about the sex. But she wanted to eat first, wanted to cling to those moments a little longer. Once she told the crew they’d have questions and objections, and they’d definitely have choice words to say about Xandr lying to all of them, and she just didn’t want to hear it. Not yet.
Sayevi sat next to her, slowly working her way through a piece of fruit Andie didn’t recognize. “I slept surprisingly well, given the circumstances.”
“The beds are comfortable.” The house was the nicest prison that Andie had ever been housed in, not that she had much experience with prison. “And the food’s good too.”
“You could almost confuse this for vacation, you know, if you forget about the guards.” They shared a smile, but it didn’t last, and before Andie had made it through her porridge the front door burst open and two guards led Keana in. She seemed unhurt, walking tall and proud as if she were royalty.
Maybe she was; she was from Mebion, after all, a friend from Xandr’s childhood. She had to be at least a little important, and Andie realized that she hadn’t asked Xandr who Keana was.
“Do you understand the rules?” one of the guards demanded of Keana.
“Death, torture, yes, yes, it’s simple enough. Now leave us be.” She walked towards the crew without looking back at the guards, but her face was a mask of strength, a mask that looked about ready to crack.
The guards left, muttering between themselves, the words not clear enough to make out. Sayevi was the first to move, launching herself at Keana and wrapping her in a big hug that made Keana flinch. She pulled back. “What did they do to you?”
Keana’s jaw was clenched tight. “Nothing I didn’t expect.” She turned her gaze to Kiran. “Is anyone listening?”
The Detyen shook his head. “Pulled the cameras, they haven’t said anything about it yet.”
“They’re short staffed with preparations for the imperial visit, I doubt they’ve noticed.” She hitched herself onto a stool in the kitchen and let out a shaky breath. “Let’s not waste time. I was able to contact a few old friends. They think they can smuggle us off planet if we can get away on the night of the upcoming banquet.”
“What banquet?” Taryn asked. She wrapped some ice from the cold box in a towel and handed it to Keana, who took it with a grateful nod.
“Some prince is coming at the end of the week. Big fete planned. Guards are sure to be distracted. That’s when we make our move.” Keana didn’t look in any shape to mount an escape attempt, but she had a few days to recover and Andie hoped it would be enough.
“What about Xandr? Does he know?” He hadn’t said anything when he visited her, but maybe he’d been too occupied thinking of what Zeesa wanted him to do.
Keana shook her head and flinched again, as her movement had rattled something. Whoever had beaten her had been thorough, and they knew just where to hit to not make it obvious. “Didn’t have time before they decided to move me here. We’re not leaving him.”
They needed to know what Xandr had been asked to do. Andie opened her mouth to speak. “He—”
Keana’s guards came back in a rush and for a frenzied moment Andie worried that they’d listened in on the conversation. But they made no move to break the crew up. Instead, one pointed at Andie and took a step towards her. “You’re coming with us.”
“What?” Talking back never ended well—Andie had learned that lesson early on Ixilta—but the question popped out without thought.
“His grace has demanded your presence,” said the guard. “Now.”
Andie glanced back at the crew and saw looks of sympathy, but this was no time to take a stand. She really didn’t want to face the Duke of Mebion, but she feared she didn’t have another choice. Fighting back would only get her hurt or killed, and Xandr wasn’t ready to make his move. And her hesitation to relay what he’d told her meant that the crew wouldn’t know that Xandr was planning anything. What could she say that the guards wouldn’t figure out? Before she could formulate some brilliant code the guard took her by the arm and began dragging her out. Behind her someone made a noise of objection, but Andie didn’t dare turn back.
She was shuffled into a vehicle without windows and shuttled away. One of the guards put a hood over her head so when the vehicle came to a stop and she exited she couldn’t see a thing. They led her to a room and sat her down before binding her to a chair and ripping off the hood. The room could have been on any planet in any system. The walls held no paintings and the dull gray color was so forgettable that Andie could barely name it while she looked at it. Again there were no windows, but the room was fairly large, and cool. Maybe she was underground? She wondered if this was usually a storage room, but the thought drifted away as the door opened and the Duke of Mebion entered.
The guards remained and she saw movement out of the corner of her eye, but she didn’t dare turn away from the duke to see what one of the guards was doing.
“You’re clever,” the duke said. He kept his distance, as if Andie posed some kind of threat when there were two armed guards in the room and she was tied to a chair. “Not many people get away with lying to me.”
She remained silent. There was nothing to say, nothing that would help her.
“But you’re not careful.” He grinned, and it might have seemed jovial on someone else, but it chilled Andie’s blood. “I’ve been looking for Karday for years and I have eyes in every station on this end of the galaxy. Once I knew who he was, it wasn’t difficult to get what I was looking for.” He clicked something in his hand and an image projected on the wall across from her, one from Honora Station the first night she and Xandr had hooked up. The heat in his eyes burned her even through the grainy image, and when one image clicked to the next she knew they wer
e found out.
It was hard to deny a kiss that hot.
“I didn’t think he would keep a plaything around. But you’re more than that, aren’t you?” He tilted his head to one side, studying her like she was some kind of scientific specimen. “You matter.”
Fuck. She didn’t let the word slip out, but Andie had hoped that Mebion wouldn’t figure that out. The more he knew about Xandr’s life now, the more leverage he had. And given the gleam in his eye, he knew how to use it.
“What do you want?” He wouldn’t have pulled her away from the house for no reason. Doing so meant he had to divert guards away from their regular duties. The more he disrupted the guards, the more chances the crew would have to escape. Hopefully.
“I want my brother to confess to his crimes when the prince arrives. No tricks. No backing out. A trial will waste time and I’d rather move on to letting my people heal. You are going to convince him it’s in his best interest.” Mebion nodded at one of the guards and took a step back.
Andie knew where this was going. She swallowed back any pleading before it could even think to escape. Mebion wielded power too easily not to like it when a person begged. She wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction. “What do you want me to say to him?” she asked, as if she couldn’t hear the guards moving behind her, preparing to hurt her.
“I don’t care what you say to him. I think we’ll let the rest of you do the talking.”
She braced for the first blow and flinched as something hard smashed into her side. Before she could recover or anticipate anything, another hit took her across the chest. After that it all faded together until Andie could do nothing but scream.
XANDR HAD SPENT THE day reintroducing himself to old friends and allies, and it was another reminder of why he wanted off Mebion as fast as possible. He hated politics, hated the lies that were told with a smile and the fake concern and outrage that true injustice prompted. Zeesa was there when she could be, but spending too much time together was bound to raise suspicions, and though Xandr hadn’t decided whether or not he’d do what Zeesa wanted, he didn’t want anyone to think they were conspiring.