Forbidden World: Ambrax
Page 11
Damen didn't look at the chip. He didn't look at Lea either. "I guess I owe you for the clothes I tore up. I'll have a return voucher drawn up at the exchange--"
"Never mind that." She laughed, but her giddiness seemed to evaporate. This was the end of the adventure, and though everything had turned out far better than she'd hoped, one dark cloud remained. He'd be leaving and it was likely their paths would never cross again. "I needed a new wardrobe anyway. I never realized all my clothes were so drab."
"Well, stick with red. It's a good color on you."
"I will. Where are you headed now?"
He shrugged, patted the chip as he tucked it into his pocket. "I don't have to worry about working for a while. I could go anywhere."
"You could stay here for a bit." She stepped closer, daring herself to touch him without losing control of her emotions.
"It's probably best if I get out of Company territory for a while, since most of the weapons in my collection were stolen from your uncle."
"I doubt he misses them anymore." She was toe-to-toe with him now, her eyes trained on his.
Before he could step back, she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him.
He caught her supple body, molded her to his muscular length. For a moment, she drifted, lost in a fantasy she had no right to create.
She moaned into his mouth, captured his tongue with hers and suckled, drawing his essence into her, and it felt better than anything she'd ever known before. When she finally broke away, she swore his knees buckled just a bit. Some part of her she'd buried deep rose to the surface now, clinging to a final shred of hope that there might be something more between them than a business arrangement.
"Come home with me, Damen. My place isn't far from the hospital. Stay the night and we'll make love."
Why had she said that? Why had she gone back on her word to keep their relationship impersonal?
"Oh, Cherry. That's not what you want."
"It is! I..." Her gaze wavered and the fierceness she felt in her chest drained away. "I want you to know how I feel."
He stepped back, letting his arms drop from her waist. "You're still a Company brat. You don't want to jeopardize that. You need to keep your hand on Daddy's money as long as you can. Darya and Troy are going to need your help to get them back on their feet."
"No one has to know. You and I can--"
Damen shook his head. "You're too good for that. You don't need to be hiding a problem as big as me. We're not alike. In fact, we're not even the same species. You can do a lot better."
She bit her lower lip to still its quivering. Her whole body ached to feel him against her again, but she didn't dare touch him or she'd never let go.
After a moment, Damen cast a meaningful glance down the corridor. "Take care of yourself, Lea."
"Where are you going to go? After Soffran, I mean."
"I thought I'd stop by Earth, go to the Ministry of Worlds and tell them what we found on Ambrax. They need to stop granting emergency landing permits. No more rumors, no more fantasies. Ambrax is hell and I want everyone to know it."
"Good." Her smile was forced and her eyes brimmed, but she refused to permit a tear to fall. "That's good. Maybe I'll take Alor there so she can tell her story, too. We weren't the first people Mojar dumped in the jungle to get rid of."
"I'm sure your sister would appreciate that." Damen winked. He straightened his spine took a step away from her in the direction of the exit. "Good-bye, Cherry. It's been...a hell of a ride."
She didn't respond. She just nodded and turned away. His footsteps receded quickly and she calculated when he reached the end of the corridor.
Would he look back?
She waited one more second, then cast a quick glance over her shoulder. If he's still there I'll go to him. I'll go with him wherever he wants me to go.
But the corridor was empty. Just like her heart.
Epilogue
* * *
Three solar months later
"That's eight thousand going once...twice. Eight thousand for forty kilos of unprocessed rydelium, do I hear nine? Nine...nine. Mobrak? Mobrak says nine, going once, twice...sold to Mobrak. You made yourself a good deal. Only government approved credit vouchers accepted, see Gordon at the exchange window for my PIN number." Damen stepped down from the auction platform as the crowd of disappointed bidders drifted away. He wiped sweat from his brow and glanced around the smoky, smelly, overcrowded auction room.
Why had he come here again? He certainly didn't need the money he'd just made, but it was nice for once in his life to have some surplus in his coffers. Trading was a tiring way of life, but it beat risking his balls every day as a bounty hunter. He'd given up that life for good.
Gathering the credit chips he'd already accumulated at the day-long trader's auction, he began gathering his gear. He'd be off world in an hour and on his way to someplace where he could put some of his hard earned cash to good use on fine food and willing women.
"Damen Cantor."
The familiar voice stunned him, left him momentarily frozen in time. He'd been sucker punched a few times in his life. He'd been in a catastrophic depressurization once, and he'd been on the business end of a shock stick more times than he cared to count, but none of that knocked the wind out of him as fast or as hard as seeing her again.
She wore that damn red flight suit that clung to her curves in a way that made his throat tight and his balls itch. Her hair was a little longer, but not enough to be fussy and her smile immediately called to mind the last time she'd climaxed in his arms.
"What brings you to a dirty place like this, Cherry?" The trader's auction on Vadeira was no place for her, no place for any respectable citizen or any beautiful woman.
She shrugged. "Business."
"What business could you have on a non-Company world?" He slung his pack over his shoulder, hoping that would make him look like he had important places to go, but the truth was, he couldn't have walked away from her right now if his life depended on it.
"All my business is non-Company now. I'm freelancing."
"Your Company paycheck isn't paying the bills anymore?"
Her sapphire eyes clouded for a moment, but her voice was light. "My father disowned me. Surprise, surprise."
Damen swore he felt a little dizzy. It had to be the stink of the place was finally getting to him. "Let me guess, you married beneath you?"
She smirked. "No. I told him he could look me up the day he accepts Darya's baby boy into the family business. He didn't like that."
"Good for you." His chest felt tight. He wanted to whisk her away from the dirt and the sweat of the auction rooms and peel her out of that crimson suit. "So you've taken up trading?"
"No, actually, bounty hunting."
That made his heart skip one rapid beat. Was she out of her mind? "There must be something more suitable for a lady like you--"
She laughed. "We both know I'm no lady. And I've discovered I'm pretty good at what I do, but I've got a job I can't handle on my own, so I tracked you down to see if you want in on the action."
"Me?" Damen gestured to the massive auction hall where sounds echoed to deafening proportions and scents commingled to become an indescribable stench. "And leave all this behind?"
"The money's damn good. Better than what I was paying you."
It didn't get much better than that. In fact, he still felt a little guilty for accepting so much from her. "Sounds dangerous."
"Yeah. In fact, this job involves another forbidden world."
Damen frowned. Yes. She had lost her mind. Maybe her sister's Lorcan syndrome was contagious. He resisted the urge to feel her forehead with the back of his hand. "Oh, Cherry, you don't want to--"
"I'm already committed to go. They call the place Quicksilver, maybe you've heard of it. No atmo. The surface is barren and cold as hell."
"Yeah, I've heard of it. No one has ever survived a landing there. Something...eats the ships."
&nb
sp; "Well, the quarantine satellite picked up an SOS from a lady scientist out of Denara. She crashed there and apparently she's still alive. The reward for her rescue would buy us both a small moon. Seems she's the brains behind some top secret project and if anything happens to her, the project tanks. Denara's government will do back flips to get her back and they'll give us a special ship that they think will withstand whatever it is that...attacks anything that lands."
Damen scratched a brow. His brain said no, but one good long look at Lea and his body had other ideas. "You're insane."
She cocked a hip in his direction and smiled. "Maybe. Are you up for it, Mr. Cantor?"
How could he resist? He slid one arm around her shoulder and maneuvered her toward the auction room exit. "Oh, I'm up for it, Miss Vargas. I'm definitely up for it."
Jennifer Colgan
Drawn to spicy tales of adventure from an early age, Jennifer Colgan (who also writes as Bernadette Gardner) made the leap from writing hard science fiction to writing erotic romance in 2005 and has never looked back.
Now multi-published, Jennifer also writes paranormal, fantasy and contemporary titles as well as science fiction erotica (under the name Bernadette Gardner). When not exploring distant galaxies or alternate universes, Jennifer can be found at home with her husband of fifteen years, two children and one slightly neurotic Dalmatian. She spends her spare time reading, quilting and haunting the local craft stores and looks forward to bringing steamy stories to her fans for decades to come.
You can visit her web sites to learn about her works in progress at: www.bernadettegardner.com and www.jennifercolgan.com.
* * * *
Don't miss Under A Calculated Risk, by Bernadette Gardner,
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Tarrant Kane was bred for one thing: military command. When the war ends, his forced retirement leaves him with more money and free time than any man should have. His new objective becomes learning how to be a civilian.
His self-imposed mission gets a little easier when he meets exotically beautiful Nola Rule at the exclusive resort on Sensuron. Nola offers him intense carnal pleasures and something he craves even more than sex: a challenge.
Kane's dalliance with Nola, however, comes with a steep price. When she disappears after a night of unbridled passion, he realizes that falling in love is a risk he isn't prepared to take...
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