by Nina Croft
"I hardly think innocent is the word to describe them." He thought for a moment. "What about your friend Leila?"
"She was fifteen when she was sold to the brothel. She doesn't like men."
"No, I guess it could do that to you. Did she kill off the customers as well?"
Mel grinned. "No, but she did have a way of making them uncomfortable."
"I bet she did." He looked at her, his eyes assessing. "So, do you like men?"
"Let's just say, ten years ago, I was of the opinion that if I ever saw another dick again, I'd slice it off."
He winced. "That was ten years ago. What about now?"
"The memory's faded somewhat. All the same, I still might find myself tempted if there was something sharp to hand." She let her gaze roam down over the front of his pants, lingering on the bulge she could see there. "Why? You want to risk it?"
She found herself holding her breath as she waited for his answer. What was going on here, was he flirting with her? Was she flirting back?
"You're taking me to Pieter," he said. "He's going to kill me. You know that. But probably only after a few very long and painful conversations."
"You think he plans to torture you?"
"I know he's going to torture me. The only reason I can come up with why he wanted me alive is he thinks I might have passed on the information I have on him. And he wants to know who I've told. He's not going to let me die without finding that out."
Mel frowned. "You've told me."
"Well, I'll try to keep that from him, but I have to warn you, I've heard Pieter can be very creative where torturing a man is concerned. So, if I were you, I'd get away from that rendezvous point fast. If he lets you leave at all."
"You're just trying to scare me into not going."
"No. I'm giving you a warning."
"Why? And why are you telling me this?"
"I'm just pointing out that the risk of you cutting off my dick doesn't rate too high on my worry scale right now. And a man condemned to die has to get his fun where he can. So yeah, I'm willing to risk it. Are you?"
For a long time even the thought of a man had caused Mel to shudder with revulsion. But she didn't feel that way about Zach. Maybe it was because he was her prisoner, at her mercy. She almost smiled at the thought. Or maybe it was because she knew she could put a stop to it at any time. She fingered the activator in her pocket, and his eyes followed the movement.
But feeling no revulsion was hardly a reason to have sex with a man. On the other hand, she wasn't walking out of here so there must be something else. She looked at him. He was big, and he was beautiful.
The short hair emphasized his high cheekbones and the slant of his eyes. Today they were more green than gold. His bare chest was broad, the muscles well-defined. One thumb was hooked casually in his waistband, and the pants hung low on his hips, showing off his lean belly with its light covering of creamy blond fur. It looked soft and silky, and she had a sudden urge to run her fingers through it. Her eyes moved lower, and she licked her lips.
"You want to see what you do to me?" he murmured.
She started in shock at his words. She didn't think, just nodded, and watched as he pushed the pants down over his hips and stepped out of them.
Her mouth went dry, and the air was sucked from her lungs. He'd appeared huge when she had seen him the day he awoke. Now, semi-aroused, he was even bigger. Thick and long, his cock pulsed under her gaze, growing before her eyes.
While she watched, he slowly wrapped his hand around himself and squeezed.
Heat flooded her belly, and she suddenly knew what he'd been doing when she came in. It made her hot and shivery all at the same time.
He seemed to know what she was thinking. "I was lying there, imagining fucking you." Then he shrugged. "Actually, that's a lie, you were sucking me off. But you were enjoying yourself. We both were."
She couldn't seem to take her eyes from his cock, fully erect now. What would it taste like? What would it feel like inside her? She was hot and swollen between her thighs, her body readying itself for him. The sensation was new, but then she'd never met a man she wanted.
Before now.
And with that thought, she finally acknowledged that she did want him. But how could she let a man make love to her then calmly hand him over to someone who would undoubtedly torture and kill him? It didn't seem right.
"You're thinking too much," he said. "Forget Pieter."
When she still didn't move, he took a step toward her. "Come on, sweetheart, give us what we both want. Let the condemned man have one final fuck."
She nodded. Just once, but it was enough.
"Thank God." He let go of himself and took another step forward. Then he paused. "Would you mind taking your hand out of your pocket?"
She frowned. "What?"
"It makes me feel a little vulnerable, knowing your finger is on the button, as it were. I can't promise my best performance if I think you're going to zap me with that thing at any moment."
She smiled at the thought but withdrew her hand, and he took the last step toward her, close enough to touch. It occurred to her that she was the vulnerable one. He could easily overpower her. But strangely enough, she trusted him.
He reached out a hand. Mel held her breath as he plucked open the top button of her shirt.
"It seems a little unfair, me naked, you fully dressed," he said as he opened the second button.
A minute later, the shirt was unfastened, and he parted the sides to stare at her. Her breasts were small, but his eyes feasted on them, and her nipples engorged under his heated gaze. He reached out with a finger, the claw extended, and gently scraped over one swollen tip. She felt the touch as a spasm in her belly, and she swayed toward him.
"You are so beautiful, small and perfect," he murmured, cupping both breasts in his large hands, rasping the pad of his thumbs against her nipples over and over again. His head bent to her, and he licked first one then the next until they glistened with moisture and were so sensitive she thought she would explode.
It was the most wonderful sensation she had ever experienced, and liquid heat welled up between her thighs. She clenched them tight together.
She almost protested as his hands left her to move down between their bodies. He took hold of one of hers where it lay clenched at her side and gently prized open her fingers, pressing her open palm over his belly. The fur was as soft as she had imagined, and she curled her fingers into it. But he didn't allow her to linger, gently nudging her downwards. She knew what he wanted, and her hand wrapped around his erection. It was hot, and hard. She squeezed it ever so gently and he moaned low down in his throat.
****
Oh God, Zach couldn't believe this was really happening. It had been a long time since he'd been with a woman, and it felt so goddamned good.
Just let him have this one thing, he prayed, and he would accept whatever shit the Universe threw at him next.
He closed his eyes as her slender fingers fluttered up the length of his cock, and he throbbed and jerked against her hand as she gently explored the swollen head.
Her hand went still against him. "Don't stop," he muttered.
When she didn't respond, he opened his eyes. Mel was staring at something over his shoulder. He twisted his head and swore softly. Leila stood in the open doorway, her blue eyes wide with shock. He wilted. "Shit."
Mel took a step back from him obviously not realizing she still had hold of his cock. She looked down in surprise and released him.
Zach groaned. "You couldn't just order her to go, could you? You are the captain, after all."
Mel didn't answer, just shook her head, and took another step back. She started to fasten her shirt with trembling fingers.
Zach glanced back at Leila; it didn't look as though she was going anywhere. He didn't know what she was doing here, but he had a bad feeling. Oh, well, he had known all along, his plan was flawed.
Leila moved further into the room, and
all his senses went onto immediate alert. He didn't know what it was about her, but she made his skin crawl. He remembered Mel saying that she had made the customers in the brothel uncomfortable. He could well believe it; he just didn't know why.
She was still staring at him; the shock was gone to be replaced by an almost cold, feral hatred.
And she was armed.
He glanced around for his pants; if this went bad, he wanted to have his pants on. They were lying crumpled on the floor a few feet away. Keeping a wary eye on both women, he sidled across, picked them up, and pulled them on.
Mel cleared her throat. "What are you doing here, Leila?"
Leila's fierce gaze left him at last. "I got to thinking, after you left."
"Yeah?"
"He" —she jerked a finger in Zach's direction— "was accused of massacring a camp on Talmare."
"So?"
"A camp like I grew up in."
Zach had been watching Mel, now his gaze swung around to Leila. What was she saying? That she came from Talmare? That she was brought up in one of the camps? The bad feeling was getting worse.
"He couldn't have been responsible for that, Leila. He wasn't even on Talmare at the time."
"Maybe not, but someone like him was."
"I'm not sure he even did it," Mel said. "I think he might have been set up."
Zach couldn't believe how good those words made him feel. She believed him, believed his story.
Leila's gaze flicked from Mel to him. His expression seemed to enrage her. Her eyes narrowed, then she closed them for a brief moment. When she opened them, she was smiling. It wasn't a pleasant smile, and it didn't make him feel any better at all.
"You know," she said to Mel, "he thinks he's got you right where he wants you."
Mel's eyes widened. "What?"
"Ask him about his plan, why don't you?"
Mel turned to face Zach. Her eyes had gone cold. "What plan?"
Zach frowned. He wasn't sure what was going on here, but all he could do was brazen it out. Leila couldn't really know about the plan. But what worried him was Mel appeared to be listening to her. He shrugged. "I have no plan."
"He's lying. Though I have to admit, it is a pretty crappy plan. I wouldn't own up to it."
"Come on, Leila," Mel said. "Spit it out."
"Oh, it's quite simple really. He's going to seduce you. And once he's had you, he reckons you'll be eating out of his hands. His words, not mine. He reckons a little bit of sex—and you're obviously desperate for it by the way—and you'll do anything he wants."
"And what exactly is it he wants?" Mel's voice was empty of all expression.
Leila closed her eyes once more. When she opened them, she was smiling again. "Well, at the moment, to strangle me." She flashed a grin at Zach. "Don't worry, I get that a lot. But from you, he wants your ship."
"My ship," Zach growled automatically.
His head was whirling. How could she know all this, but even through his rising panic, it was coming together. She'd been born on Talmare, in one of Pieter's breeding camps. "Jesus," he said. "She's a telepath."
"Quick, isn't he?" Leila responded.
Zach frantically tried to get things straight in his head. The liner, ten years ago, had she been responsible for the crash? He stared at her. How could someone so small and delicate bring down a whole space liner? As the thought settled in his mind, Leila's eyes widened in shock.
"Well?" Mel broke into his thoughts, and he turned reluctantly from Leila. Mel was staring at him coldly, her mouth a grim line.
"Well what?"
"Is it true?"
"Is what true?" he asked, trying to keep his tone innocent.
"Do you believe you only have to fuck me, and I'll do anything you want?"
"Of course not."
Beside him, Leila snorted in disbelief.
Mel shook her head but didn't say anything further. Zach knew she didn't believe him, which wasn't surprising, but he was amazed by how bad that made him feel. He held himself tense, waiting for her to press that button and the paralysis to set in. But she didn't, she just swung around, slammed her palm to the door panel, and stalked out of the room.
Leila smirked and followed her. The door slid shut behind them.
"Shit," Zach muttered.
He was a dead man.
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Chapter Five
It occurred to Mel, as she waited for Sanderson that she was just about to make the biggest mistake of her entire life. And it was way too late to do anything about it.
She had picked the rendezvous point carefully. They were on one of the moons orbiting Talmare—a bare, barren place, but with a gravity and atmosphere similar to Earth, which meant they didn't have to be inside and weren't hampered by breathing equipment. The meeting place was a circular clearing formed by towering ochre rocks that at least provided some cover while they waited.
Leila stood beside her. Zach was behind them, his eyes boring holes into her back. She'd avoided thinking about him for the past two days. She'd walked away from him not furious, as she'd expected, but hurt. And she really hated that.
The thing was she couldn't blame him. His life was at stake and much more than that if what he had told her was true. And she suspected it was. She would have done the same, used anything and anyone at hand to help her get away.
Still, she hadn't been able to face him, and she'd handed his care over to Leila. Then she'd spoilt the gesture by ordering Darla to keep an eye on them. Just in case Leila was tempted to try out her new poison.
She wouldn't put it past her; Leila was a genuine man-hater. But then, the time in the space brothel had been hard for Leila, much harder than for Mel.
Mel had been considered a risk; consequently, she'd spent most of her three years there in a drug induced haze. But Leila had been fifteen, small, not viewed as a threat, which just went to show how misleading appearances could be. But it had meant there were no comforting drugs to soften the reality for her.
Not that Mel didn't hate most men. From what she had seen of the world, the majority of them deserved to die screaming. But she wasn't particular; she also hated plenty of women as well. After all, it was because of a woman that she had ended up in the brothel in the first place.
Though, thinking about it, if it hadn't been for that particular woman she supposed she wouldn't have existed at all.
Beside her, Leila shifted restlessly. "Mel?"
Mel glanced at her. "Yes?"
"He didn't do the massacre on Talmare."
"What?"
"Tiger, he didn't do it. I read him."
Mel frowned. "And you waited until now to tell me?"
Leila nodded. "And Mel..."
"What?"
"He likes you."
A jolt of shock hit her hard. "I don't believe you."
"It's true. Oh, I wasn't lying about the plan, but it wasn't the only reason. He wanted you. He likes you."
Mel gritted her teeth and turned to face Leila. "Why are you telling me this?"
"Because you're not happy. You're my friend, and you're all that kept me sane. Well, sanish," she acknowledged, with a slight smile. "And however much I'd like to see him die, I know you'll never forgive yourself if you go ahead with this, and he dies because of you."
"But why leave it this late? Sanderson will be here soon. I try to stop this now and chances are we all die."
The smile left Leila's face. "I wanted to meet Sanderson, and this was the only way I could think of. I need to know if he's responsible. I need to find out if Darren is still alive."
Mel shook her head. In some strange way, she could understand Leila's reasoning, but she'd risked all their lives. She glanced around to where Zach stood in the shadows behind them, and suddenly she knew whatever the risk, there was no way she was handing him over to Sanderson.
"How long have we got before Sanderson gets here?" she asked.
"Minutes," Leila replied.
She thought for a moment. "Call Darla, make sure the ship is ready to go, and send Angie and Grace down here, tell them to hang back but be ready for trouble."
"Already done. They're somewhere behind us."
Mel walked toward Zach. She'd told Leila to make sure he didn't give her any earache. Leila had taken her literally, and he wore a metal gag. Above it, his eyes were expressionless. She reached behind him and clicked open the gag, removed it from his mouth. He twisted away and spat.