by Anna Hackett
“Hi, Ralu.”
Dakota’s voice broke up their conversation and they all turned back to the window.
“Time for you and I to have a little bit of fun.” She perched on the table, crossing her legs. “This is where you tell me what you know about the Atocha Treasure, what your planet’s called, and where I can find it.”
The man looked at the wall.
Dakota made a tutting sound and stood. She walked behind him, pacing a little. Dare saw her remove something from her pocket.
It was a small laser cutter. She fired it up, the orange light bright in the darkened room.
“What the hell is she doing?” Justyn said.
Ry raised a brow. “Don’t tell me she’s into torture?”
“You don’t sound very upset about possible torture,” Dare said.
“That asshole kidnapped our brother, so yeah, not much sympathy.”
Dare shook his head. “Give her a minute.” He’d made the mistake of not trusting her earlier, he wouldn’t do it again.
She leaned in from behind Ralu, her mouth near the man’s ear. She brought the laser cutter up close to his cheek. The glow illuminated both their faces.
The man jerked his head away from the laser, but Dakota followed.
“It’s hard, isn’t it?” She waved the laser around. “All that heat.”
She moved the glowing blade all around his face, just centimeters from his skin. Down along his arms, never touching him.
“She’s drying him out.” Dare took a step closer to the glass. “He’s part aquatic. He’ll have a higher water content, and need to keep his skin hydrated.”
Ry nodded. “Yeah, I found some fancy-looking shower and tub on his shuttle. It’s clear he needs to wet down regularly.”
“Start talking,” Dakota said. “And the laser will go away.”
She kept moving that laser around, the man shifting uncomfortably on his seat.
“I want the name of your planet, and where it is.”
Ralu pressed his lips together.
She flicked the cutter off and stepped back. She grabbed one of the bottles of water on the desk, uncapped it, and lifted it up. She chugged the contents down.
The man’s gaze glued to her throat. He watched her drink like a man dying of thirst.
Dakota set the bottle down and came back toward him. “Those men out there have scruples—” she nodded toward the two-way mirror “—I don’t.” She lifted the laser cutter again.
She really believed that. Dare felt a muscle in his jaw flex. He’d made her believe that. He hadn’t stepped carefully enough with Dakota. He knew that under her tough shell, under her strength and grit, she had a soft center. A center he wanted.
She ran the laser back down along the man’s arm. “It’s hot, isn’t it?”
“Can I have some water?” Ralu’s voice was strained.
“For every answer you give me, I’ll let you have one sip of water.”
The struggle was clear on the young man’s face. She moved the laser cutter past him again and Dare could see that the skin on his face looked tight and dry,
“The Southwind crashed on my planet hundreds of years ago. The Atocha Treasure was a marvel, so the legends say. But after many years it was lost and absorbed into myth. They say the orb shows exactly where the treasure is located on my planet.”
Dakota poured some of the water into a glass and then walked to him. She lifted the cup and helped him drink it. He gulped it like a desert survivor.
“Keep going.” She lifted the bottle and poured more water into the glass.
The man licked his lips. “My planet is called Maro.”
“And the survivors of the Southwind?”
“Were welcomed. Absorbed by the local inhabitants. The history of the Atocha Treasure became embedded in my culture.”
She helped him take another sip, and this time, she dripped water down his dry arms. The man groaned.
“Where is Maro?”
The man looked torn, but then rattled off some coordinates.
Dare looked at Rynan and nodded. His brother disappeared to get to the bridge.
“Tell me about your planet?”
“It’s covered by oceans. We have no land.”
Dakota straightened. “None at all?”
The man nodded. “None.”
Dare frowned. A water world.
“And you don’t know where the Atocha Treasure is?”
Ralu shook his head. “It was kept with the wreck of the Southwind. It was said the ship crashed, deep in the ocean. Later, my ancestors destroyed all mention of the treasure’s location. To protect it.”
She helped him drink once more, dripping some water on his face. Then she stepped out of the interrogation room.
“Let’s head to my office and take a look at the map,” Dare said.
They moved toward Dare’s office.
“Well done getting the information.”
She gave him a sharp smile. “Anything to find my treasure and snag a few more e-creds.”
“Dakota.”
She shrugged off his hand and swept into his office. Justyn and Rynan joined them. Ry went straight to the comp and tapped in some commands. An image appeared on the screen, showing a giant blue planet.
“I give you the water world of Maro. I found a single reference and image of it in our archives.”
“Here.” Dakota held out the orb. Ry clicked it into the comp and tapped again. The map projected above the screen.
“I’m inputting the name of the planet,” Ry told them.
Dare watched the golden planet turn blue. There was a glowing red mark on the watery surface of the planet, just south of the equator.
“So, looks like we’re going for a swim,” Justyn said.
“There’s not much information on the native Maronians,” Ry added. “Just that they are a peaceful aquatic race.”
“We’ll make contact with the Maronians when we arrive,” Dare said. “See if they can help us. Set course for Maro and notify the rest of the convoy we’ll be making a short detour. I’ll talk with all the captains myself later to explain the situation. For now, search for somewhere close to Maro where they can wait for us. Ry, we’ll need the security team to stay with them.”
Dare’s brothers nodded. Both of them looked between him and Dakota.
Justyn cleared his throat. “Um, I’m going to let my wife fuss over me for a bit.”
“And I need to check in with my team,” Ry said.
After his brothers had left, Dare stared at Dakota and that damn blank face that she’d plastered on. He was getting sick of it.
“Hopefully we can find some local guides and equipment,” Dakota said. “Can’t say I know much about underwater recovery.”
“Our shuttles are rated for underwater trips, but nothing too long or too deep.” Dare tilted his head. “From what our guest said, I’m not sure the locals are going to let us waltz in and take a legendary treasure.”
Dakota crossed her arms and shrugged. “It’s not like they’re taking care of it. They lost it. I won’t take it all, and we’ll let them know where it is.”
“You’re still upset with me about me wanting to pay you for the orb.”
“I’m not upset.” Her voice was emotionless.
He moved closer and she took a step backward. He pinned her up against his desk. “You are. It’s okay to tell me.”
“Screw you, Dare. Remember, this is just a temporary thing, you and I. We fucked, it was good, now we’re done. Once we find the treasure and I take my cut, I’m out of here.”
He gripped her arms. “We are not done.”
“We never really got started. You wanted me to spill all my dirty little secrets but you keep yourself locked up so tight.” Her chest was heaving, then she shook her head. “Just forget it.”
“My father left when we were kids. My mother couldn’t handle three rambunctious boys alone. She met a man.”
Dakota had
gone still, her gaze on his face.
“Our stepfather was cruel and possessive. He hated sharing my mother with us, so he locked us in the basement most of the time. Kept us in the dark.”
“Dare.”
“I know what it is to be afraid, Dakota. To be hungry. To have nothing.” He fought the urge to kick something. He hated reliving his childhood. “Well, not nothing. I had my brothers. But he liked to beat us…and I had to protect them.”
Her eyes closed. “You took the brunt of the beatings.”
She hadn’t made it a question. “Until I got big enough to fight back.” The ugly darkness rose in him, choking him. “I’m not afraid of the past, and I do not let it rule me. But it made me what I am today. I can never escape that and I will always do everything I have to do to protect my brothers.” He touched the delicate shell of her ear. “I am sorry I hurt you in the process.”
When she looked at him now, he saw his Dakota was back. Emotion and life shimmering in her eyes.
“Don’t you damn well feel sorry for me,” he growled.
“You can’t order me what to feel and not feel, Dare. I can feel sorry for the boy you were if I want to.”
“Feel something else instead.” He slammed his mouth down on hers.
She struggled against him for a second, then her hands slid into his hair, yanking hard, and she kissed him back.
Desire was like a solar flare—fast and hot. He needed her. He needed her now.
He spun her around, bending her over his desk.
As he yanked at her trousers, she pushed her ass back toward him. He pushed the synth-leather down, leaving her trousers tangled around her ankles.
He flicked open his own trousers, freed his cock, and without any warning, thrust inside her.
She arched back, crying his name.
“We aren’t done,” he growled. “We won’t be done. Now take me.”
He gripped both her wrists with one of his, pinning them to his desk. He dragged his cock out, then rammed home. Again and again. Faster and faster. Harder and harder.
Dare felt his own release building—sharp and bright and jagged. Not before her. “Come for me, Dakota.”
She did. Her cries were music in his ears as her body clenched tight and then spiraled apart.
Dare moved faster, driven by a desperate urge. As the pleasure knocked into him, he lost his rhythm, then froze, coming deep inside her.
He covered her body, trying to get his breath back. She turned her head, her cheek pressed to the cool surface of his desk.
He pressed a kiss to her ear. “You confuse me, Dakota. You fight me at every turn and then turn so very soft under my hands. You tempt me, entice me.”
“We both know I’m not what you’re looking for. You want yourself a little sweet thing who’ll be at your beck and call. Who you can coddle and pamper, and who won’t question you. Who won’t be difficult.”
He frowned. Maybe once that was what he’d imagined for himself a long way down the track, but now…
“Let’s just ride this out,” she said. “Until it fades, and then you can go find that dream woman of yours.”
“No.” He pulled her up to face him.
Her brows drew together. “Sorry?”
“No. That woman you just described, she isn’t what I want.”
“Okay,” she said warily.
She didn’t believe him. He knew he’d have to prove it to her. He slid his hands in her hair. “I am sorry I hurt you.”
She smiled. “Why do I get the feeling that you don’t apologize very often?”
“Because I never have anything to apologize for.”
She snorted. “Maybe because you never let anyone close enough for it to really matter.”
He pressed against her, so she could feel his still-hard cock. “You feel pretty close right now.”
As he pushed her back onto his desk and spread her thighs, he watched that shocked pleasure cross her face.
Yes, she was close now, and Dare was going to have to find a way to convince his skittish lover to stay there.
***
Dakota stood beside Dare on the bridge and tried not to tap her foot on the floor.
They were approaching Maro, and the large blue sphere filled the viewscreen, looking like a giant version of the orb hanging around her neck.
Dare had left the rest of the convoy nearby on an uninhabited jungle planet. Under the eagle eye of Rynan’s security team in the Pathfinder, they were taking on supplies and enjoying the planet’s warm lakes. She’d listened to Dare talk with the other captains. Most were fine with the detour, understanding that this was the way of deep-space convoys. One captain had voiced a protest and she’d watched Dare wield both his charm and his unyielding strength to win the woman over.
“Commencing scans now,” Nissa said from the captain’s chair.
Ralu hadn’t lied. The planet was completely covered in water, with no patches of land visible. So where did everyone live? Rynan had said Maronians were aquatic, but not capable of living in the water. The medical scans they’d done of Ralu showed that although the man could hold his breath underwater far longer than humans, he couldn’t survive in it.
“Preliminary results coming through.” Nissa tapped on the console attached to her chair. She swiveled and looked at them. “The planet has a higher proportion of mass made up of water than a standard planet. The oceans are hundreds of kilometers deep in places. There are some locations where the land is closer to the surface, but there’s nothing above the water level. But…” She leaned in close, staring at her screen. “There are congregated life signs beneath the water.”
“Schools of fish?” Dakota asked.
Nissa shook her head. “Looks like they have underwater cities.”
Underwater cities? Wow. Dakota felt a frisson of excitement.
“Okay,” Dare said. “Where’s the location of the Atocha Treasure?”
“It’s in a deep area of water in the southern hemisphere.”
“Locate the underwater city closest to the location, and let’s open all comm lines and see if we can make contact.”
“Got it,” Nissa said.
Now Dakota did tap her foot. She wanted to get down there. She wanted to find her treasure.
“Someone’s responding,” Nissa said.
“Put it on the screen.”
A Maronian woman’s face filled the screen. She smiled. She had the same blue skin as Ralu and pale-blonde hair pulled back from her narrow face. She seemed to have some sort of shimmering blue dress on. “Welcome, visitors. We so rarely get off-world visitors to Maro. My name is Tsani, Chancellor of the city of Sori Sanu. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”
“Hello, Tsani. My name is Dare Phoenix of the Phoenix Deep-Space Convoy.”
The woman’s face brightened. “Your reputation precedes you, Mr. Phoenix. I’ve heard good things about your convoy.”
Dare inclined his head. “I’m very happy to hear that. We were hoping to visit your world and conduct an expedition of historical importance.”
“Really? Tell me.”
The woman looked so serene. Dakota had never seen someone so calm. Tsani looked like a woman who’d hug you and think happy thoughts all the time. Dakota shuddered.
“We have a map leading to the wreck of a Terran starship and its contents. It is of great historical value. We were actually attacked by someone from your planet looking to get his hands on the map and the purported treasure said to be on the ship, the Southwind.”
Now Tsani’s eyebrows rose. “An ancient Terran treasure?”
“He said it holds great historical value to your people.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” The woman shook her head sadly. “I’m sorry, but there is no mention of a ship called the Southwind in our history.”
Dakota frowned. What the hell? She saw Dare’s brow crease.
“It sounds as though this Maronian man may be suffering from what we
call taravana. Craziness of the sea. It unfortunately affects many of our people who repeatedly swim too deep.”
“With your permission, we would like to visit your city, and ask some questions of your historians,” Dare said.
Dakota moved into view. “We’d like to search for this wreckage. It would mean hiring some of your people. We’d pay well.”
“No one owns our planet,” Tsani said. “Our people swim through the oceans as they please, on the whims of the currents. We take after the creatures of our waters in that respect. You are free to visit our city, Mr. Phoenix, and free to ask your questions. And if you venture into our waters, that is fine, too, although I do not believe you’ll find this mythical ship.”
“Thank you.”
“And please, bring this man who attacked you. I will see that he is questioned by our authorities.”
“How do you live underwater?” Dakota asked. “How do you keep your cities safe?”
The woman smiled. “We have some brilliant scientists. Our cities are protected by giant domes made of an amazing substance based on some of the translucent corals that grow on our planet. We also have excellent systems to recycle our air and manage our plant life. We are very proud of our cities.” Tsani nodded her head. “I will be happy to show you when you arrive.”
Soon, Dakota was seated in the shuttle as Rynan maneuvered them into Maro’s atmosphere. Justyn was seated beside him, while Dare sat beside Dakota.
Ralu was trussed up in the back of the shuttle, a gag across his mouth.
Dakota was almost bouncing off the walls with excitement. She couldn’t wait to see the underwater city. She couldn’t wait to find her treasure.
She was so relieved that the Atocha Treasure wasn’t some mythical piece of Maro’s history. She glanced at the young Maronian man. Clearly, he was just a wannabe treasure hunter out to protect his own interests. She had no idea how he’d known about the Atocha Treasure, but it didn’t really matter, because soon he wouldn’t be their problem anymore.
As they entered the planet’s atmosphere, the screen was filled with the jewel-blue waters below. Dakota imagined having the treasure in her hands. She still hadn’t decided what she was going to do with it, but she was certain that she’d know once she had it. The galaxy would be her oyster.