by Mel Teshco
Soon after, she was peeling open her cabin door and pulling Tristan inside, her heart hammering in her chest and her senses buzzing.
She dropped her shoes to the floor and turned to him, a mountain of male standing in the doorway.
“Why did you bring me here?” he asked quietly.
Chapter Three
Everything within Tristan screamed that he shouldn’t be here. An even bigger part of him wanted desperately to stay.
Rita bit into her bottom lip. “It’s … safe here.”
God help him. She looked so innocent, so trusting, despite her rank. “You could lose everything you’ve worked for,” he said in a harsh tone, trying to change her mind before he lost his.
She lifted her chin, fire flashing in her eyes. “I won’t let that happen.” She stared at him. “You won’t let that happen.”
He shut his eyes, hiding the jagged shards of pain lancing through his temple. Last time a loved one had put her trust in him, she’d died. He’d woken up dazed and confused, with a crap-load of blood on his hands.
His eyes jerked open to Rita, who stood, unmoving, and right in his face.
A loved one?
Fury replaced the pain. He took a step forward. “You were wrong to trust me … to bring me here.”
She didn’t move. She held his stare. “I know you’re a good man. Whatever you were accused of, I don’t believe you were anything but innocent.”
He took another step, inwardly flinching at her insight while admiration burned for her steadfastness. “See, that’s where you’re wrong. I’m a killer. A madman. I could black out any minute and wake up to find you dead, your blood on my hands.”
She shook her head. “No. I don’t believe that. Not for a second. And neither do you.” She took the next step forward, standing toe-to-toe with him and searching his stare. “Do you?”
All the pain, the anger and the despair, even the unanswered questions, all of it leeched out of him. He wanted only to bury his head in his hands. To pretend his wife and his unborn child weren’t dead. But they were. And there wasn’t a damn thing he could do to bring them back.
Rita traced a hand over one of his magna-cuffs and murmured, “The alarm hasn’t stopped yet. No one will ever know you were here.”
His breath caught as she pushed first one dress strap, then the other, down her shoulders. His heart rate kicked up even more when she pushed the dress all the way down and stepped out of it wearing nothing but her skimpy underwear.
She stared at him, her eyes full of heat and promise. “I want you.”
His blood rushed straight to his groin. God, he could so easily kiss her sexy lips until she was senseless with need, so easily caress and tease her firm ripe breasts until her nipples were pebbled knots beneath the lace. Instead, he scraped together enough self-discipline to rebuke her hoarsely. “You could have any man you wanted.”
She slowly shook her head. “I don’t want anyone else. And this might be our only chance to be together.”
What about the lieutenant? But the words couldn’t scratch past the thickness in his throat as he stared at the dark-haired beauty before him.
His balls throbbed, his cock beyond aching. But it went deeper than that. She called to something within him, something he’d not felt even with his wife.
He sucked in an unsteady breath. What was wrong with him? A judge had ruled him guilty of killing his wife and child, and already he was favoring another woman. God, he was sick, vile. He deserved everything he’d gotten and then some.
He jerked back, stumbling blindly for the door. “I’m sorry, I can’t be with you.”
*
Oh, no you don’t!
Rita followed him, pressing up onto her toes and clasping his shoulders. “I know desire in a man’s face when I see it.”
She leaned forward slowly, giving him a chance to pull away if that was what he truly wanted. His eyes darkened to the deep, turbulent emerald of the sea, but he didn’t move. Her mouth pressed against his until his tight-pressed lips softened and then opened, a moan rumbling from deep in his throat.
Passion burned through her body like wildfire. Here was a man who could take away her breath; her heart, if she wasn’t careful.
Their kiss deepened, tongue meeting tongue and lips pressed together. The urgency between them grew with the knowledge that their time together would be brief. She pressed closer, reveling in his inherent strength and the way her feminine curves fitted so perfectly against his hard physique; the way his cock thickened against her belly.
They broke apart for air and Rita dropped back to the soles of her bare feet. God, she needed to see more of him … to touch him. She unbuttoned his top with unsteady fingers, pushing the shirt over his shoulders and down his arms. She sighed at his sculpted chest and pressed a splayed hand to his warm skin, feeling his heart beating in sync with her pulse.
His eyes narrowed. “If you’re looking for a saint, you know you won’t find it in me.”
She smiled, then leaned forward and pressed an open-mouthed kiss to his salt-tinged skin. A saint was the last thing she wanted at that moment.
“Sweet Jesus,” he groaned. Then he cupped her face, lifting her stare to meet his glowing eyes. “If we do this there’ll be no taking our time. It will be hard and fast, with no regrets.”
She nodded, her face heating a little and her pulse accelerating. “Before you have to disappear back into your cell? I get it, I really do. I know this won’t be a happily ever after. I can live with that.”
What other choice did she have?
His face tightened, all primal and male. “Are you sure?”
She unclipped her bra and tossed it to the floor, looking back at him with her chin held high and her nipples hardening. “No regrets, remember?”
Something in his eyes flashed, but she realized it was as much from anger as it was from desire when he reached out a hand and touched her breast with tender restraint. “Did your lieutenant give you this bruise?” he asked roughly.
Oh fuck. She’d forgotten the damn thing was even there. “Yes,” she admitted softly. “Does that change how you feel about me?”
His expression grew more savage at her words. “How I feel about you won’t ever change. The only difference is now I want to break the lieutenant’s neck twice as bad.”
She smiled, attempting to soften the mood. “You wouldn’t be the first one to wish that.”
His eyes flashed even darker. “You deserve so much better.”
She nodded, and then said huskily, “I know.”
“So why are you with him?”
She released a long, slow breath. “Because I’ve allowed fear to rule my head. Not any longer though.” From here on in she’d follow her heart. “ I do deserve better. It’s why I chose you.”
His nostrils flared, and something deep and private lit up his stare. But then he was crushing her to him, his big body hauling her off the floor as he kissed her hard, taking everything she had and then some.
Blood raced hot and heavy through her veins. Dear god, Tristan might have the precise, tender hands of an artist, but right then he was a man with needs too long denied! She moaned into his mouth. That she’d shattered his formidable willpower turned her on in ways she couldn’t even comprehend.
He maneuvered her backward and laid her down. She barely noticed the soft warmth of her colorful bedcover beneath her spine. There was no time for thought, no time for anything but giving in to the combustible heat between them.
His head reared back while he fumbled to take off his pants. With something between a needy sigh and a desperate moan, she reached down and helped him haul them off.
Her heart fluttered and her mouth dried—just as other parts of her anatomy quickly became wet. The thick length of his arousal tented his boxer briefs, making it clear that Tristan was big … all over.
“Lie back,” he urged huskily.
The muscles in her belly going weak, she did as he asked, and wa
tched as he hooked his thumbs into the waistband of her red, lacy thong before dragging it free.
His breathing deepened even as his jaw locked tight at the sight of her spread out below him. She was thankful he didn’t ask about the deep scar that nicked vertically near her navel. She didn’t want that memory to sour the moment. “I wish I had time to savor your sweetness.”
She blinked, trying hard not to fall to pieces at the very idea. God, how she wished they had all the hours in the world!
His eyes not once leaving hers, he reached down and parted her labia. His finger slid deep inside her and she pushed against him with a gasp, wanting his touch; wanting more. When he pressed on the tight nub of her clit and deftly massaged, her thighs fell wide apart, her neck arching and her head falling backward until all she could see were the infinite stars through the window behind her bed.
She scrunched her eyes shut. He was seconds away from sending her to those same starry heavens, and he’d barely even started!
She jerked as his warm, wet mouth covered the tip of one of her upthrust breasts. When he suckled, her eyes flew open, watching as he made one nipple hard and then the other, before sliding two fingers deep inside her, pressing in and out while still licking and suckling.
He removed his fingers and lifted his head, his gaze conveying an apology for the need to rush. Then his mouth covered hers in a deep, commanding kiss that stole away her breath, and he guided his shaft between her thighs.
She broke the kiss and sucked in some oxygen, all too aware that the far-off, strident tone of the alarm had ceased. Panting, she looked up at his sweat-slicked face, his passionate stare. “We need to hurry.”
He closed his eyes for a moment and nodded, his words coming out in a growl that only underscored his resentment at their haste. “I know.”
His cock pressed at her opening, and with a ragged groan, he pushed in deep.
Oh, god.
She swallowed hard as she felt her body resist his length for a moment. He rocked in and out, pushing harder and faster until his moans were joined by hers, their sweat intermingling, skin sliding over skin. She gasped as the intensity within her expanded, like a boiler building with pressure.
Then her muscles locked and she detonated with a barely repressed scream, the climax rippling outwards from her womb and hurtling her way beyond the heavens she’d envisioned. With a little sigh she slowly drifted back into her own body, only half-aware of Tristan’s long, drawn out moan as he drove in hard and his seed emptied deep inside her.
He collapsed against her for a moment, before he looked down and kissed her damp brow, murmuring tenderly, “I wish I could stay.”
She reached up and planted a lingering kiss on his sexy, full mouth. “I wish you could too.”
He drew back and blew out an unsteady breath. Then he gently untangled himself from her arms and legs before quickly dressing. She stood, too, her knees still weak. That had never happened before. She suppressed a smile while gathering up her clothes, pulling them back on before she put her wrist beneath the scanner and unlocked the door.
She turned to Tristan with a carefully serene look on her face. She wouldn’t give him reason to regret their lovemaking, wouldn’t give him reason to think she wanted more than he’d ever be able to give. “I’ll take you back.”
“No, you’ve risked enough already.”
She shook her head. “You won’t be able to get through any doors, you need to be able to scan—”
He stepped toward her and bent his head, sealing his mouth over hers and cutting off any further argument. Only when she surrendered with a little sigh, did he pull away from her and murmur, “I’ll think of something.”
She could see from his determined expression that nothing would change his mind. She nodded and reluctantly moved aside, opening the door to an empty corridor.
He stepped outside her room, then turned to her one last time, his blazing eyes drinking her in. “I wasn’t even close,” he said softly, reverently.
“Close?” she echoed, her scattered thoughts drifting away before she could grasp even one of them.
“To capturing your passion on canvas.”
As he spun on his heel and beat a hasty retreat, she couldn’t help but wonder what he’d have said if she’d admitted she’d never had such strong feelings for another man. “Be safe,” she whispered.
*
Rita adjusted her electro-whip and pulled her cap lower to help shield her face. The riot was obviously under control now, but she’d been ordered to return to the army rec room in full combat gear and Andrew would be highly suspicious if he noticed her absence—if he hadn’t already.
Corporal Rick Matheus, one of the soldiers Rita had known even before boarding ES Siren, strode down the corridor toward her. He saluted smartly, but his expression was grim. “The lieutenant asked me to find you.”
Her belly sank. “Oh?”
Matheus expelled a breath that whistled through his teeth. ‘Be careful, he’s in a mood.”
She nodded and gave him a wry smile. “Thanks. I’ll be on my best behavior.”
Rick’s returned smile looked more like a sympathetic wince as he walked with her into the rec room.
The first thing she noticed was Tristan back on his platform. Her heart rate soared. It seemed her lover’s disappearance hadn’t been treated as suspicious. At least, not yet. Not with the chaos engaging everyone’s mind. She could only assume a guard had let him back inside.
If Tristan saw her, he didn’t let on. His attention was concentrated wholly on painting the scene—the carnage—below.
The prisoner Rita had seen electro-whipped was being loaded roughly onto a stretcher, as were around a dozen others. Of the injured, the three infantry, in full uniform, were being treated far more carefully.
Rita shook her head at the carnage. Corporal Jade and her staff would be kept busy for hours mending the minor casualties, while the more seriously hurt would be taken to the onboard hospital.
Would the medics have any idea that the lieutenant had been behind the fights? Rita didn’t doubt for one second that Andrew had authorized the blood sport. The fights would soothe his need for power and violence, not to mention help fill his portacomp’s bank with credits.
Andrew was conferring with a handful of soldiers who stood in a knot on the other side of the rec room. He chose that moment to look up, his hard eyes not softening even a little as he excused himself and approached her.
He exchanged a salute with the colonel, before nodding his dismissal and turning his full attention to Rita. “A bit late to be joining the party, Chief Songworth?”
He said her ranking with a curled lip, as though she didn’t deserve the title. But she didn’t let on that his derision got to her, didn’t let on that every cell in her body prickled in response to Tristan’s sudden regard. Evidently Tristan’s painting came in second-best to watching the scene unfold between her and Andrew. “I wouldn’t say that. It appears you have everything under control.”
Andrew’s eyes flashed. “Do you think for even one second I’d put up with this kind of insolence from anyone else?”
She let out a sigh, beyond weary of all the bullshit. “Then perhaps you’d do better with a more obedient girlfriend?”
If she knew there wouldn’t be a backlash of monumental proportions she’d have laughed at the utter shock that slackened his face. “You’re breaking up with me?” he snarled in an undertone.
She shrugged. “Yes.”
He stood closer, red veins streaking across the whites of his eyes and a muscle in his jaw jerking into life. “I could have my pick of any number of you sluts.”
“And I’m sure whoever you choose will enjoy your masterful way with words,” she snapped back.
It was at that moment she realized their exchange had echoed throughout the rec room, which was loud with sudden silence.
Oh great. All she needed was for the lieutenant to have been humiliated before his subordinates.
She turned on her heel, with no doubt he’d find a way to make her pay.
“Where do you think you’re going?” he asked loudly.
She paused, then twisted to face him once again. “Everything seems to be under control, Sir. And as I’m off duty, I’m sure you won’t mind if I get out of my uniform.”
His eyes flared with lust and she realized it was the worst thing she could have said to the lecherous jerk. She was unobtainable now, so he’d want her even more. Her belly tightened, nausea rising within. His violent tendencies would be that much more pronounced after this exchange.
She shuddered. She might have to exchange some credits for tokens to persuade one of the pretty laundry women to slake Andrew’s lust. She’d heard many of them were fucking two or three men at a time for little more than extra water rations.
Yeah, way to go Rita! Take advantage of someone else’s bad situation, just like Andrew would.
No. She’d find another way to keep the bastard at bay. And he wasn’t Andrew to her anymore. No longer would she think of him on a first-name basis.
Lieutenant Zane raised his hand and snapped out a salute as he bit out, “Of course, Chief Songworth.”
She saluted back, glancing up at Tristan, who was watching them with unreadable eyes. When her peripheral vision noted the lieutenant’s hard, narrowed stare, she let out a sigh and pivoted to escape the rec room and the men in it.
Bloody hell. She needed a run.
Chapter Four
Rita yawned again, wishing just this once she’d sacrificed some credits and bought some sleeping pills. At least after a good night’s sleep she might have been half-interested in this morning’s lesson. She blinked to refocus on the text of her portacomp’s screen as the civics professor droned on.
Not even the most passionate, wide-awake student would be interested in this mind-numbing lecture. Could the so-called expert of their new colony, Unity, be any duller? He was one of the few researchers who’d lived on the habitable planet of Solitaire for just over a year before returning from the Lyra constellation on a space transporter to Earth.