Their tongues duelled, a primeval dance of hearts willing and bodies entwined. The heat at her core flamed. She wanted more of him, his rod filling her sheath, his warm lips caressing her throat. Even as she made her silent wish, he began to fade away, a mysterious figure blending into the shadows of love lost.
“You make me crazy for you,” she said, gently breaking the kiss.
He chuckled. “I could say the same of you.” Then, parting the elastic of her panties from her thigh, he tenderly eased his thick cock into her welcoming channel. She threw her head back in ecstasy and he bent and, one by one, sucked on her distended nipples. He thrust into her again and again, slowly at first, then picking up the pace. She wanted more of him, and raked his shoulders with her fingernails.
The only sound he made was a heavy grunt. She cried out as a climax tore through her. He arched his back and screamed into the air but she didn’t catch the name he spoke with such fervour. Odessa struggled to awaken from her vivid dream. She couldn’t allow Harley to vanish. In her mystical dream, he had given her more than a self-centred Roland had in three months. Slowly, as if she was covered in warm sand, she surfaced, prying her eyelids open with her fingers. She examined the room, which had a holographic painting of an unrecognisable, but wonderful, emerald green landscape with an orange-red sky. The eerie scene oddly reminded her of Earth. Homesickness drew its pulsing beat around her. When would she see the Cascade Mountains again, or the apple orchards of the Wenatchee Valley?
She brought her hand to her lips. Amazingly, they were kiss-swollen, as if her dream had been real. Her imagination had bedevilled her. What if he were to make love to her? What if her thighs were spread wide apart and he thrust his rod in her channel? And his lips had once again touched her in places that yearned for him alone? Harley’s lonely eyes disturbed her on one hand. On the other, she resolved not to let his dream kisses torture her during her waking hours. He was a drug Lord’s right-hand man, searching for her so he could turn her in to the drug Lord on Romaydia who could order her around.
“I’ve had more adventure in the last few hours than I bargained for,” she murmured, rising to a seated position.
“Are you awake, sleeping princess?” boomed a voice next to the bed, scaring her half out of her wits.
“I am.” Thankful for the Ashtari’s reassuring presence, she smiled.
“You were going to ask this Ashtari how he is familiar with sleeping princess.”
Odessa laughed. Momentarily, she had forgotten he could read her mind, and was worried the short fellow would have seen her dream about Harley. If he had, he kept the knowledge to himself. “What is your name?”
“It is Eyani, which has no exact equivalent in your language, but roughly means ‘he who conquers all’.”
She burst out laughing. “Are you married? What are you doing on Romaydia?”
“Easy, little one. Take your time and fully awaken before you fire questions at me.”
“How do you know the slang?” she asked.
“What is this ‘slang’?”
Odessa canted her head to one side. “It’s a word that someone makes up to use instead of a stuffier word, which catches on with the rest of the population. Before you know it, everyone’s using it.”
“Which word did I use that is this ‘slang’?”
“You asked me not to fire questions at you.”
He nodded, his head barely shifting since he had a very short neck. “I see. As to being married, I am not. That concept does not exist on Ashtar.”
Odessa must have appeared perplexed. Obviously reading her mind, he went on. “We trade our partners, but this does not have the same shocking quality it has on your planet. The men and women trade each other willingly and with joy, with no twine attached.”
“You mean strings, don’t you?”
The gold circle on Eyani’s forehead twirled. “Yes, I think this is your slang again.”
She nodded. “You’re right. I can’t begin to grasp what it would be like to trade my partner. That is, if I had one.” Changing the subject, she said, “You sound like my Uncle Peter.”
The gold moved around his forehead before it stopped and pulsed. “Uncle is relation. The brother of the woman who gave birth to you?”
“Yes. He smokes a pipe and rocks in his chair no matter how cold and blustery it gets.”
“Ashtari have no concept of cold until he travel to other worlds where he froze in knee-deep snow. On Ashtar, it is warm always. No need for shoes or shirt.”
“The winter is cold in Wenatchee but there’s still a lot of beauty. When it snows or when you walk at night and see small crystals from the light in the house.”
Eyani cocked his head to one side. “There is matter of urgency. This man who search for you is not giving up. I believe he see you before I am able to shield you.”
“I thought that kind of thing only existed in the movies.”
“I am not familiar with movies, but I shielded you as soon as I knew you were in danger.”
He sounded almost like a magician, able to hide objects and make them reappear at will. “Is Harley nearby?”
“Yes.”
“Is he alone?”
“Yes. Is that a surprise?”
“I don’t know. I thought he would send the Murrach’s men after me.”
“Then you are in real trouble, little one, for Murrach does not seek out helpless women without definite cause.”
“I have done nothing to warrant his attention. Neither his nor Harley’s.”
“The Murrach’s right-hand man is come to door looking for you.”
Odessa tensed at the sharp knock on the door. “How do you know everything?”
“I read his thoughts as he neared.” He moved closer and touched her arm. “If you stay still, he may step right up to you and not see you within my protective shield. Will you stay still?”
She nodded, instinctively trusting the Ashtari. She couldn’t let Harley find her.
Eyani propelled himself forward and pulled the door open. “Lieutenant,” he said affably, as if Harley was a long-lost spaceship buddy.
“I am searching for a woman who has been stranded here. I need to find her so I can send her home.”
Odessa’s mouth fell open. Harley looked better than ever in a black leather jacket and black pants. His eyes roamed the quarters but did not stop on the bed. Could he really not see her? She was invisible? Did he mean what he’d said about sending her home? Odessa doubted him. He wanted to know where Roland was, and that was one question she couldn’t answer.
Eyani opened the door wide and motioned with a chubby hand around the room. “As you can see, there is no one but my humble self here, enjoying a moment of rest.”
“How is your mission faring?” Harley asked, stepping into the room and surveying the interior as the door shut behind him. A painting of a landscape to the left glowed and the bed sheets were rumpled, as if the Ashtari had risen from his bed to greet him.
“It is going well as can be expected. I will be leaving in a few hours, now that the negotiations have ended to my satisfaction.”
Negotiations to trade for foodstuffs, Harley had learned. He kept his face neutral as he saw the sheets lifted, as if in a tight fist. He examined Eyani’s wrinkled face. He was, like most Ashtaris, being his usual friendly self. Harley didn’t think he had one bad bone in his body.
“Do you wish to negotiate now?” Harley asked, casting a glance from Eyani to the bed and back again.
“I have nothing to trade, so negotiation is pointless.” The Ashtari had probably perfected his blinking as well. Was he lying and shielding Odessa, or was Harley overtired and seeing things?
Harley knew Ashtaris had a weakness for superior, uncut jewels. “Are you sure? I could add to your treasures. Let’s say a sapphire and an emerald of unsurpassed value.”
“A dime a dozen,” Eyani said, still not blinking.
“What if I throw in two pink pearls and a Cla
ss A diamond?”
“I still have nothing to negotiate, although the proposal is tempting to find a commodity to trade.”
Harley sniffed Odessa’s fragrant scent of gardenias as she shifted. She might be invisible to his eyes, but not to his nose. “Perhaps Odessa has something of value to trade for, or to negotiate?”
A stifled gasp told him his hunch had been correct. She was sitting on the bed, hidden from his view by the Ashtari’s invisibility shield.
“I tell you there is none here by that name.”
“It’s your last chance to negotiate, Eyani,” Harley warned.
“You are much mistaken.”
Harley stormed past the little man. He had no idea what would happen if he stuck his hand inside the shield, but he had to get to Odessa. Her life was in danger. He had no one to fault for that but himself. And he needed information about Roland Baylon. He exhaled sharply. The woman’s perfume drove him crazy with wanting her. That was another reason to catch her.
He reached inside the shield, fully expecting Odessa to bite or slap him. She did neither, but slid out to the other side of the bed. “I don’t know how to tell you I don’t know anything,” she said. “You can trade whatever you want for me, but I won’t go anywhere with you. Why don’t you try understanding that?”
From the corner of his eye, Harley saw Eyani give an approving smile, which he hastily covered with a cough. Apparently he enjoyed Odessa’s sassiness, too.
Harley said nothing to Eyani, but his eyes raked over Odessa, assessing any possible injuries. “Are you hurt?”
“I am not, but if I was, it would be no concern of yours.”
Her determined voice sounded like Violette’s. “Damn it, woman.” He didn’t want to play games. Ultimately, her resistance to his aid might cost them both their lives.
“I am a free citizen of Earth,” she said, getting to her feet and drawing herself up to her full height. She knew her hair was gently mussed, and she appeared awkward. “I choose where I go.”
“I am afraid not,” Eyani spoke up. “He does. We are not on your planet, and consequently are not ruled by its laws. Romaydia is not under the Earth’s control, although there is an agreement in place to extradite criminals.”
Surprise siphoned the blood from her face. Harley fisted and unfisted his big hands. The sight of those long fingers and the tension clearly coiled within him made her recall her all too vivid dream of their shared kiss. Against her will, heat built up in the pit of her stomach. She wanted him like she had never wanted another man, yet he was the adversary. An enemy she couldn’t escape.
Fear gripped her. “Please don’t turn me into this Lord Pardua. I’ve done nothing to warrant his anger. I don’t understand why he’s searching for me. I honestly don’t know where Roland is.”
“Harley has no intention of turning you into the Murrach. I believe he wishes to protect you.”
“Didn’t you say earlier that it’s best to stay away from him?” Odessa questioned the Ashtari. Harley noted her indecisiveness and her innocence.
“I did,” the Ashtari replied. “But in your case, he means you no harm.”
Odessa knew Eyani was reading Harley’s mind, but had no idea if Harley knew it. Could she trust the Ashtari to tell the truth?
Harley’s stance was ramrod straight, but his eyes remained fixed on her face.
“I believe,” Eyani continued, “his life might be in danger too.”
“Why?”
Eyani spread his hands out in front of him. “I do not know. Only he knows.”
“You mean you’re not willing to share what you read in his mind.”
“There are some things he must hide to protect himself. If I say what I know, you will know too. Then there will be three who know, instead of only one. And that is two too many,” the Ashtari said carefully.
“So you’re telling me it’s safe to leave with him? That he’ll send me home?”
“I do not believe he has power to send you home just yet. But when he is able, he will do so. He is a man of his word.”
Odessa watched Eyani’s eyes. He had to be telling the truth. Was it safe to leave with Harley, based on Eyani’s thought reading? She had to trust someone in order to get off Romaydia. Harley wasn’t her first choice, but he was her only option.
The Ashtari intervened. “He is being honest, little one. He is your best chance to get off the station.”
Harley recognised then that the gentle Ashtari had read his mind and had known all along who he was. In fact, during the last few months, he was certain, Eyani had known. Yet he’d said nothing. Perhaps the Ashtari mentality was not to snitch on others, but what would prompt him to talk to Pardua? Torture usually did. If Harley’s true identity were known, he would be a dead man within minutes. Pardua didn’t tolerate deception in his ranks.
Chapter Twelve
Odessa swiped her hand through her hair, wishing she had food to fill her belly. She wanted nothing to do with Harley, yet she stood in the middle of the corridor waiting for him to decide what his next move would be. She knew no matter what he asked, she wouldn’t have the answer. She amended that. If he asked her to make love to him, she wouldn’t be able to resist his magnetic charm. He was handsome, and she found him appealing.
Now, she found herself staring at his Adam’s apple, which bobbed up and down as he talked. “Where did Roland Baylon go?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t know he’d stranded me here. I found that out when he’d already left. I don’t know where he’s headed. I don’t know anything.”
His pinched voice brought her attention to his face and the beard shadow growing along the length of his powerful jaw. “Are you all right? You look flushed.”
Goodness, the man was becoming increasingly handsome and mouth-watering by the nanosecond. She swallowed through a dry throat as her vivid dream returned to torment her. The whole vision had been so real—his mouth brushing against her breasts and teasing lower and lower, until she’d begged him to love her. He slid his cock into her channel and bliss exploded within her. She wanted him exploring and tasting her.
She sighed. Dreams were meant to be fantasised in every detail, from a lingering caress down a taut thigh to lips touching a bare nipple.
“I’m fine,” she murmured, unable to meet his piercing eyes, relieved he couldn’t read her mind like Eyani could. There would be no end to the explaining she would have to do if he knew she was dreaming of his thrilling hands and lips roaming her naked body.
Unexpectedly, he said, “Why don’t you come back to my chambers, and we’ll get a bite to eat? You must be starved.”
She did feel faint, but not because of a lack of food. Her body had begun to speak a language all of its own. She wanted to get off the station, not embroil herself in a one-night stand. If she ended up in Harley’s chambers, there was little doubt she would end up in his bed if he gave her half the chance. He wouldn’t be like Roland, she assured herself, sharing a few stolen moments with her here and there and then acting in public as if nothing had happened, as if they hadn’t shared a very real experience.
She clapped a hand over her mouth and felt her cheeks become as scarlet as red, delicious apples. “I can’t,” she managed to say from behind her hand.
“You can’t?” he asked, his eyebrows knitting together in a frown. “Do you have a prior engagement?”
She heard the evident disbelief in the question. “Oh, nothing like that.” How could she explain she had been preparing to marry a man this evening, yet here she was thinking of making love to a completely different one? “I was thinking of something else entirely.”
Harley leant forward slightly, lowering his head to hers, his eyes glistening brown orbs in his tanned face. Tiny crinkles marked the corners of his eyes. He smelt of a delicious concoction of pine trees and sheer male essence, a scent that almost drove her beyond the edge of sanity. He reached out and twirled a strand of her hair around his fingers. “Why do you have such a h
old on me?” he murmured as if they were alone.
“What are you talking about?” she asked breathlessly. Her dream was coming true. He would make love to her, and she would be powerless to resist. He would ride her hard, not with ice in his eyes but with a warmth she found endearing. He would trail light kisses down her spine and take her from behind and even perhaps play with her anus. She would love that.
“You look so much like my dead wife, yet you’re different. You have a spirit no man can conquer.”
She smiled, and felt her cheeks warm again as his finger strayed to the crown of her ear, smoothing the sensitive skin.
“Come back to my quarters,” he said, his voice low and sexy.
Her mind told her to run, to forget about food and relative safety. Her body warred with her reasoning, telling her Harley’s hands would feel sinfully sensuous against her skin.
Reality disrupted the irrational moment. He wanted information she couldn’t give him. He was the Murrach’s right-hand man. She should go anywhere but with him to his quarters, where he could hold her indefinitely or even kill her. How did she know he hadn’t staged the shooting in the concourse, possibly to frighten her into his arms? Was this all a set-up, a ploy of Roland’s to scare her?
“I have to find a way home,” she replied, pulling abruptly away from his heated touch and wrapping her arms around herself. The air temperature seemed to drop by several degrees.
“I’ll send you home if you tell me where Baylon went.”
In a millisecond, he had changed from a potential lover back into an unrelenting enemy. His expression had hardened, and was now bereft of the very qualities that made him human. Odessa had forgotten just how quickly he could turn ice cold.
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