“Same difference,” Onca said, snarling. “Let us know what you find out, Shemlak, and tell Draddut not to lose that beacon. We may decide we want to use it to trap those punks ourselves at some point, but right now, we have another strategy in mind.” He got up from the table. “Kim, you’re riding with me—seeing as how Roncas can’t stand me and Jatki doesn’t trust me.”
Shemlak chuckled. “Just take it slow and easy and maybe no one will notice you’re going out the wrong door.”
Roncas led the way with Onca bringing up the rear. Their escape would’ve been perfect if Onca hadn’t yelped when Ganyn pinched his ass as he tried to slip past her.
“You come back and see me again sometime, sweet thing, and I’ll bring my friend Judie along for the ride. She misses you too.”
Which meant that at least one woman who didn’t have scales and a tail liked him. With a quick wave at Ganyn, he climbed into his speeder. The fact that Kim got in beside him without any hesitation made him feel a little better. “Let’s split up and take the long way back,” he said to Roncas.
“What if they’re waiting for us?” she asked.
“With Captain on guard duty, they’ll be sorry if they do—which reminds me, I’d better give him a call.”
“Right,” Roncas said. “See you there.” The canopy slid shut as she turned her speeder toward the east and took off down the alley.
Onca fired up his speeder and headed in the opposite direction. Closing the canopy, he activated the cloaking mechanism. “We’re, um, invisible now. So if you see anything about to hit us, give a yell.”
“Invisible?” Kim echoed. “Really?”
“Yeah. I bought this speeder from a Nerik who swore that feature would be the most useful thing ever. This is the first time I’ve actually used it.”
“Seems like it’d be kinda dangerous when there’s much traffic.”
“It is. Which is why it’s illegal—and also why I need you to keep a lookout. All speeders have anti-collision sensors on them, but they don’t work when we’re cloaked, and neither does the navigator function. I have to fly it manually.” He tapped the comlink pad. “Ahoy, Captain. Seen any strangers hanging around the house?”
“Not at this time,” the computer replied. “Shall I activate the defense mode?”
“Yeah, but let Roncas and Jatki in if they get there ahead of us.”
“And who, pray tell, is Jatki?”
“A Kitnock girl with purple hair. Trust me, you’ll know her when you see her.”
“I am certain of it,” Captain said.
“Okay. Call me if you notice anything weird going on in the neighborhood.”
“I shall comply. Captain out.”
Terminating the link, Onca turned to Kim. “So, you want to tell me why Jatki thinks I’m worse than a Herpatronian rapist?”
“She doesn’t think that. Really. Don’t feel bad. It’s more what you are than who you are. Men terrify her.”
“I noticed that. I’m guessing some guy roughed her up?”
“Yeah. Her father used to molest her, and when he got tired of that, he liked to beat her up.”
Expecting to hear almost anything but that, Onca felt like he’d been punched in the gut by a Darconian. “That’s—that’s…horrible. She’s a runaway then?”
“Yeah. Which is why she really doesn’t want anyone to know where she is. Especially her family.”
Onca had never known his family and would have given his entire fortune to see them alive and well again. He couldn’t imagine not wanting his family to find him. But then, he’d never been abused.
“Look out!” Kim shouted.
Onca halted the speeder just shy of another vehicle that was cutting through the alley. As inattentive as he was in the wake of Kim’s revelation, he considered it best to stop for a moment. Easing the speeder closer to one of the buildings, he lowered the parking struts.
“Why are we stopping?”
“Because I’m too freaked out to drive. Mother of the gods! How can a father do that to his own child? I don’t get it.”
“Yeah, well, he’s probably not the only one. Even on a nice, clean, happy planet like Rhylos.”
Damenk prided itself on being the cleanest city in the galaxy. Everything—buildings, streets, and especially the landscape—was scrupulously maintained. Even the alleys were pristine. Flowers bloomed from planters behind each building and trailed from balconies above. Litter simply didn’t exist, and the trash receptacles were works of art. And yet, heinous crimes still occurred—even in private homes like Jatki’s. Onca shivered. No wonder these girls felt safer on the street than they would in his house.
Until now, when someone was apparently hunting them down like vermin. “Look, Kim. I know you girls have no reason to trust me, but I swear on the crumbling dust that was once my planet, I will not hurt you or any of your friends.”
Onca had been trying not to look at her too much, but he couldn’t help it now—not when she sat with him in such a small, enclosed space. Nor could he ignore her scent. She had washed with the same soap he always used, and yet she smelled completely different—sweet, feminine, and something else he couldn’t identify. Swirling in the air between them, her aroma kept his gaze riveted on her, drinking in her deep brown eyes and shining curls. The curve of her cheek. The upward slant of her brow. She wasn’t just cute. She was adorable.
Allowing himself to be alone with her in a cloaked speeder was a mistake. Having Jatki cowering away from him would have been better than this. No one could see them here. No witnesses. No protection.
“I believe you,” she whispered.
A heartbeat later, she hitched in her seat, leaning toward him until her lips touched his cheek. Strange new sensations flowed from the point of contact, weakening his resolve.
“You didn’t have to do that.”
“I know, but I wanted to.” Her curious gaze roamed over his face. “Your cheek is so smooth.” She traced the line of his jaw with a fingertip, setting off a renewed surge of astonishing tingles. “I never realized Zetithian men didn’t have facial hair. My father never grew a beard, but I didn’t know it was because he couldn’t.”
“None of us can.” Onca was surprised he could even speak. She was so close; the air was thick with her unique essence.
“But you have hair in…other places.”
She had obviously been paying attention to the pictures. “Yes.” Until he heard the vibration in his reply, he wasn’t aware he was purring.
I have to stop that.
Unfortunately, he had to hold his breath to do it.
“Ganyn seems very fond of you.”
He shrugged. “Maybe. But it doesn’t mean anything. She’d have been just as fond of Jerden if he’d been there for her appointment.”
Kim sat back in her seat. With the increased distance between them, Onca breathed a little easier, but her scent was still incredibly powerful—mesmerizing, intoxicating.
“Would you kiss me?” she asked.
His eyes widened. “I shouldn’t do that.”
“Why not?”
“Because I—I’m too—” He managed to stop himself before he blurted out that he was too old for her, too used. She was young and fresh. She deserved a man like that—an untarnished youth closer to her own age. “I’m supposed to be protecting you from the bad guys and helping you find your friends. Stuff like that. Not kissing you.”
“Oh.” She glanced away, frowning. “Sorry. I just wanted to know what was so special about Zetithian guys.”
“You’ll find out someday. I have a friend whose sons are about your age.” He forced out a chuckle, pleased to find that he was no longer purring. “There are three of them. You can afford to be choosy.”
Pain seared his heart as he thought about how many times he had been passed over by “choosy” girls. Even after all this time and so many different women, the memory still hurt.
“You don’t like me, do you?”
H
e gaped at her. “What? Of course I like you. I mean, we only met this morning, but I—”
“Then it’s too soon for you to kiss me?”
“Well, no, it isn’t that.” Onca had kissed about a bajillion women after having only met them moments before. Granted, the circumstances were completely different, but—
“Then what is it?”
“Oh, hell, I don’t know…”
Seemingly of its own accord, his hand shot out and cupped the back of her neck, pulling her close, his lips parting when they met hers. Completely unprepared for the explosion of flavor and scent, his shocked mind barely registered her arms encircling his neck, the tentative swipe of her tongue over his lips, and the press of her body against his.
Sweet and intoxicating, her aroma curled its way through him until it reached his groin, pumping heat into his cock for an erection so swift and painful he nearly screamed. He knew how to suppress that reaction—he was one of the few males of any species who could—but Kim had somehow managed to strip away that control with one kiss. She might not have enjoyed her previous attempts at sex, but someone had definitely taught her how to kiss. Her tongue slipped past his lips and into his mouth, teasing him until he was nearly insane with the need to rip her clothes off with his fangs.
He was purring again, and he couldn’t stop that any more than he could suppress his erection.
I will not fuck her. I can’t do that. I can’t…
To his great relief and infinite disappointment, she drew away from him, her fingers pressed to her swollen lips. “Did I do that right?”
Onca was purring so hard he could scarcely draw a breath. All he could do was nod.
“That sound you’re making. Is that normal?”
He nodded again. “Zetithian males purr to entice females, and females purr—” He stopped as words deserted him. He couldn’t tell her that. He was supposed to be looking out for her, not corrupting her. She wasn’t a client. She was his… His what?
Mate.
The word pounded in his brain like a drum.
No. It can’t be. Not now. Not like this…
“Are you okay?” she asked.
He barely trusted himself to look at her. She gazed at him with eyes that were even more beautiful than they’d been mere moments before. Although her scent had undergone a subtle change, the fragrance of her desire lingered.
And she was still absolutely adorable.
“Not really.”
Chapter 7
The kiss had affected Kim in ways she had never expected, leaving her with the most peculiar urge to bite him. Then there was the desire to see him naked—for real this time rather than a picture. Unfortunately, the fact that kissing him had made him look sort of sick made her hesitant to try it again.
Still, there was that purring thing he did, and that part about doing it to entice females. He’d said it was normal, but did he have control over it? Was he trying to entice her? She racked her brain trying to recall how her parents had acted toward one another. Maybe once a Zetithian couple was married, purring became less important—either that or they only did it in private. Onca had stopped before telling her why a female would purr. The fact that she never had must mean it involved something she’d never done.
A heavy ache settled in the juncture of her thighs along with a strange, slippery wetness—something that had been noticeably lacking during her two previous sexual encounters. The first boy had actually stopped when he realized how much pain he was inflicting. He’d never made another attempt, implying that there was something wrong with her. The other had withdrawn prior to his climax—to prevent pregnancy, he said, although she suspected he was as uncomfortable as she had been.
Her mouth was watering so much she had to swallow before she spoke. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you sick.” She swallowed again, but for a different reason this time. Sitting back in her seat, she stared out the window. A tiny sereta crept out from under one of the flowering shrubs planted by the rear door of the nearby building, its long ears and droopy eyes reflecting her own dismal mood.
Kissing Ganyn hadn’t made Onca sick. Not like her kiss had done. Maybe he didn’t like kissing. Maybe he never kissed his clients. It was, after all, an excellent means of transmitting disease.
Or maybe it’s me that makes him sick.
That was certainly a lowering thought. She’d kissed those other boys. They’d seemed okay afterward, even if sex had been a total failure.
“I’m not sick,” he finally said. “I’m just…tired.”
She’d forgotten he had been up all night. He should have been in bed hours ago. But, of course, that was her fault too.
“Don’t worry,” she said. “I won’t ask you to kiss me again.” She glanced behind them, then nodded at the alley up ahead. “You can probably uncloak us now. I don’t think we’re being followed.”
He sat staring at her for a long moment, his expression somewhere between bewilderment and regret. “Uh, yeah. Might be best if we take the scenic route, though.”
Without another word, Onca retracted the parking struts and took off down the alley, uncloaking the speeder just prior to reaching the main street. Turning right, he merged with the traffic, flying past places Kim had never seen before. Beautiful, intricate designs adorned the polished surfaces of the buildings—each one constructed in a different style. Beings from all over the galaxy mingled on the sidewalks, some dressed in outrageous clothing while others wore nothing at all. Vines covered with vivid blossoms climbed up the lampposts, and the pavement styles changed with each block they encountered—some paved with simple stone bricks while others were done in colorful mosaics.
“Where are we?” she asked.
“Upscale restaurant district,” Onca replied. “Some of these places charge you fifty credits just to walk through the door.” He shrugged. “It’s pretty ridiculous, really. The food isn’t that good.”
“So you’ve been in some of them?”
“A few. But like I said, it really isn’t worth the money.”
Kim wasn’t so sure about that. Opportunities to feast her eyes on such beauty were rare.
“This area is dazzling at night.” He pointed at a street lamp. “Those lights are docked on posts during the day, but at night, they detach and hover.” Slowing down, he nodded toward a large open space to the right. “Speeders aren’t allowed in those squares. The restaurants and bars there never close, and they have live bands playing music all the time. Some are paved, but others are more like parks, with trees and plants from all over the galaxy.”
Kim could only nod and stare. She’d never dreamed Damenk was this big—or this beautiful.
“Ever been through the government district?”
She shook her head. “We try to stay away from those places.”
“I can understand that,” he said. “The buildings there aren’t as pretty as these, but some of them are huge.”
He sounded more normal now; that strange, purring note had vanished from his voice. She stole a glance at him, only to realize that the most beautiful thing she had ever seen was sitting right next to her.
And I make him sick.
“Maybe we should go back to your house now,” she said. “You need to get some sleep.”
He nodded. “What about you?”
“Me? I haven’t slept since…” She paused, trying to recall the last time she’d curled up in a quiet corner for a few hours. “Night before last.”
“Then we’d better cut the tour short.” He banked the speeder into a turn. “We’ll both think more clearly after a nap.”
“Yeah. It’s funny, but anytime I feel bad, I go to sleep and wake up feeling fine. I’m hardly ever sick, and my cuts and bruises usually heal overnight. Weird, huh?”
“Not for a Zetithian. Those are some of our more useful characteristics. Good thing, seeing as how half the galaxy seems to want to bump us off.”
And the other half wants to have sex with our men. He d
idn’t say that, although he was probably thinking it. Strange how he was willing to fuck a Darconian but had such an aversion to kissing her. He said he wasn’t sick, but it sure took him long enough to say it.
That kiss certainly hadn’t made her feel bad—strange, perhaps, but not bad. In fact, she wanted to do it again.
Yet another thing in this life I can’t have. Crap. She felt like crying, and she never cried. Well…hardly ever. She’d cried a lot when she was younger, especially during those first few nights on the street when she was terrified and starving. She was a lot tougher now and tried not to think about those times. Something about Onca made her think back to when she was a child and part of a family—back when she’d had parents and sisters. Onca had been a baby when he was rescued from Zetith. He wouldn’t have known his family at all.
She turned toward him but quickly averted her gaze. That one glimpse made tears sting her eyes—and not only because she wanted to kiss him. He’d said she and Jatki could stay with him. Maybe he wanted a family as much as she did. She had already decided she would stay with him and accept his help. However, she had no intention of becoming his adopted daughter. Not when kissing him only made her want to kiss him again.
“We’ll take a loop through the commerce district and then back to my house,” Onca said. “Ahoy, Captain. How are things on the home front?”
“All is quiet,” the computer replied.
“Any sign of Jatki and Roncas?”
“I believe they are arriving at this very moment,” Captain said.
“Alone?”
“They do not appear to have been followed.”
“Good. Let them in and then lock the place down tight. We’ll be there in about ten minutes.”
“I shall comply. Captain out.”
He hadn’t tapped the comlink. Apparently the link was also voice activated. Did that mean Captain could have eavesdropped on their conversation, including the part where she’d asked for a kiss? Kim sank into her seat, wishing she could disappear. Sure, Captain was only a computer, but he’d claimed to be sentient and definitely had a personality. She could only imagine what it would be like to have the house controlled by an entity that was privy to her secrets.
Rebel (The Cat Star Chronicles) Page 7