by Nina Croft
"We will," he said, leaning across and kissing her on the forehead.
She sighed. "Yeah, maybe we'll get lucky."
"Now," Zach said, "turn around."
"Why?"
"Don't look so suspicious," he said. "I was just going to give you another blast of local. You must be feeling it by now."
She'd forgotten all about the pain, now it flooded back. She turned, felt Zach tug aside the sheet and then the cooling spray.
"You should rest," Zach said.
"I don't think I could."
"Well, we'll go to your room, you can lie down, and we can try and come up with a plan."
"A plan?"
"I know it's something of a novel approach for you, but maybe you should give it a go."
She scowled. "Too much planning stifles your natural reflexes."
"And none at all gets you killed."
"I'm still here."
"I know, and I marvel at that every moment of the day."
"Ha ha. I'm going to my room."
She wrapped the sheet around her and stalked off with as much dignity as she could manage.
"Go ahead," Zach called after her. "I'll get that food and meet you there."
****
They were in Mel's room. Mel was lying face down on the bed. Zach was sitting on the floor, close by, long legs stretched out, feeding her from a plate balanced on his lap.
"Right then, this plan," she said.
"I know Sanderson's set-up on Talmare. I can at least minimize our chances of being blown out of the sky before we even land."
"That would be an excellent start."
He frowned. "Has anyone ever told you sarcasm is not a desired trait in a woman?"
She was about to reply when Darla peered in through the open doorway.
Mel rolled onto her side. "Did you manage to get hold of the pod?"
Darla shook her head. She stood shifting from one foot to the other, gnawing on her lower lip.
Obviously, there was more bad news. "What is it?" Mel asked.
"We've received a communication from Sanderson. He's got Leila."
A ripple of fear washed over her. She'd hoped they could get to Leila before she reached Sanderson. "And?" she asked.
"He's going to contact you in thirty minutes."
****
Sanderson's face appeared on the screen. He didn't bother with any pleasantries this time. "By now, I assume you're aware I have your friend."
Mel nodded.
"I'm willing to swap her for Zach. Bring him to me, and I'll let you both go."
"Duh! Do I look like a gullible fool?"
Mel heard Zach snort behind her and shot him a black look.
Sanderson just raised an eyebrow. "I think you'll find that you don't have any choice. Bring Zach, or I will kill her slowly, and I'll send you a wave of me doing it."
The screen shifted from Sanderson to show Leila being held by a man. Mel's breath caught in her throat. Leila looked tiny and fragile, her face bruised, lips swollen and her shirt spotted with blood. She appeared terrified. Mel had never seen her show that much emotion before. What had they done to her?
Zach came to stand behind her, his hands gripping her shoulders. "Don't let him see how much she means to you," he whispered in her ear.
Mel tried to keep her expression blank but knew she had failed when Sanderson came back on the screen, his face a mask of smug satisfaction.
"She's a delicate little thing," he said. "We should have a lot of fun with her."
Mel frowned. Delicate little thing? The words didn't quite ring true. Leila might look delicate, but it didn't take people long to realize that she was anything but. Unless, of course, Leila didn't want them to realize that. Was she acting out some plan? God, Mel hoped so. She really couldn't see any way out of this. They were going to have to go and just pray for miracles.
But she wasn't setting foot on Talmare. She knew once in Sanderson's stronghold, their chances of ever getting out were zero. "I'm not coming to Talmare," she said.
Sanderson shrugged. "Pity, I would love to show you our hospitality, but no matter. We can meet on the moon where we had the original rendezvous. You have six hours."
The screen went blank, and Mel sagged. Zach's hands tightened on her shoulders. "You could always hand me over," he said.
"Of course I could."
"That way there's at least a chance. The other way there's none, and you know it. We can't fight Sanderson. He's too big."
"We beat him once."
"Only because he underestimated you. He won't do it again."
"I'm not handing you over. He'll kill you."
"I'm dead either way, and I'm not suggesting you hand me over. I go alone. You stay here, out of the way, and I'll send Leila back."
Mel pulled out of his grip and turned to face him. "I stay out of the way?" She smiled, but knew the expression didn't reach her eyes. "You're a very amusing man, you know that."
Zach scowled. "I'm not being funny. You're not going anywhere near Talmare."
She put her hands on her hips. "Oh yeah! And who's going to stop me?"
"Me," he growled, taking a step toward her, standing so close they were almost touching.
His arms were folded across his chest. He was huge, towering over her, but Mel refused to be intimidated. She tilted her chin so she could stare him in the eye.
"For God's sake, you two, stop it!" Darla spoke from behind them. "This isn't helping."
She came around and glared at them both. Mel could see the worry in her face, and she forced herself to relax. Zach remained tense, and Darla's blue eyes narrowed. "Drop the stance, macho man, it really doesn't impress us." Zach didn't budge, and she sighed. "I know what you're doing, you're trying to protect Mel, but it's not going to work. You know as well as we do that there's no way Sanderson will just calmly let Leila go once he's got you. It will never happen."
"But he might not think it's worth coming after The Revenge. You'll be safe."
"Maybe, maybe not. I'd lean toward, not. Sanderson doesn't seem the sort of man to leave loose ends."
"But..."
"No buts! You're missing the point here. Whether Sanderson comes after us or not is irrelevant, because there's no way we're leaving Leila. She's our friend, and we're going to get her out of there, or die trying."
Mel reached for Darla and hugged her. She could feel her shaking. "Thank you," she murmured. Zach was watching them both. For a moment, he remained tense then he relaxed, and she saw the resignation in his eyes.
"Okay, so what do we do?" he asked.
"We fight."
"Great," he muttered. "Just great."
"The thing that worries me though," Darla said, "is—what's Leila up to? You said you'd explain it to me."
Mel filled her in on Leila's background. At the end, Darla frowned. "Did you think there was anything strange about her, Mel? Just now, with Sanderson?"
Mel thought back and nodded. "She looked terrified."
"Yeah, I noticed that. It was weird."
Zach shook his head. "What was weird? The poor girl was about to be tortured and killed, and God knows what they've done to her already. Of course she was bloody terrified."
Darla looked at him pityingly. "Leila doesn't do terrified."
"No," Mel agreed. "She's definitely up to something, but what?"
"Hey," Zach said, "maybe she's got a plan. Maybe we should get one as well."
Mel shrugged, purely to wind him up. "What's to plan?" she said nonchalantly. "We go in there, we kill Sanderson and everybody with him, and we rescue Leila."
"Sounds like a good plan to me," Darla said.
Zach shook his head in disgust.
****
"Okay, so that's it," Zach said, some time later. "We go down in the pod with Angie and Grace. Darla stays with The Revenge. If this goes bad, you get out of here, and you go straight to the Agency. You tell them what Sanderson is up to, and you don't leave until they listen."
"Okay, but just be clear on one thing, I'm not leaving until you're all dead."
Zach thought about arguing, but what was the point? "Fine."
"Hey," Mel said, "did you know, you just called my ship The Revenge and not The Valiant?"
"No, I didn't."
"Yes, you did," Darla said.
"No..." he began, then scowled. "Oh, shut up."
There was no way this was going to work. As a plan, Zach decided, it was pretty much on a par with his last one—absolute crap. He couldn't understand why Mel and Darla seemed almost cheerful. Didn't they realize they were all going to die down there? Didn't they care?
It was strange. He'd been in so many battles and he'd never been scared of dying before, never even thought about it. He'd always relished a good fight. Now he realized he didn't want to die. What had changed? He glanced again at Mel. She turned slightly, caught his eye, and smiled. She appeared exhausted. It probably didn't help that she couldn't sit down. She needed to sleep. There was nothing more they could do now. He was going to take her to bed.
At the thought of bed, his cock twitched, and he lowered his eyes and ran his gaze down her body, lingering at the slight swell of her breasts beneath her silky robe. Back up to her face, she was still watching him, a slight flush staining her cheekbones.
She yawned. "God, I'm tired," she said, staring at him through half-closed eyes.
He stood up slowly and crossed the room to where she was leaning against the console. "You should go to bed," he said. "If you're going to fight you need a clear head and all your energy."
"So do you," Mel replied. "Perhaps you should go to bed as well."
He reached out and stroked a finger down her cheek. "Perhaps we could go together?"
"Oh for God's sake, get out of here," Darla muttered. "The pair of you are making me feel ill."
"You should get some sleep yourself," Zach said.
"I couldn't. Besides, I'm fine. I'm going to make sure the pod's okay, then check the weapons over."
"Right," Zach said. Without asking, he reached forward and swept Mel off her feet, tossing her over his shoulder. This time she didn't protest as he carried her from the bridge.
"Bloody caveman," Darla grumbled behind them, and he grinned.
****
Mel watched as he stripped his clothes, ripping off his T-shirt and dropping his pants in one smooth action. He sat down on the bed, legs stretched out; his head resting on the pillows bunched behind him and regarded her through heavy lidded eyes.
"Are you always like that?" she asked, nodding in the direction of his truly impressive erection. It twitched with a life of its own under her intense gaze.
He grinned. "Pretty much, when you're around."
"So, what happened to one last fuck? This must be number four."
"Complaining?"
She smiled, untied her belt, and slipped the robe from her shoulders, letting it fall to the floor. Her body started to melt as Zach stared at her hungrily.
He patted the edge of the bed next to him. "Come here."
She knelt beside him. Zach grasped her waist in his strong hands and lifted her effortlessly so she straddled his lean hips. He released his hold and lay back, his arms clasped behind his head.
"I'm all yours, honey," he said.
His cock nudged at the hot, slick entrance to her body. She was already slippery with desire, and she widened her legs, so the tip slid inside. Groaning softly, she slowly impaled herself on the length of him.
Her hands rested on his broad shoulders, her nails digging in to his skin as he filled her completely. For a moment, she stayed still, eyes closed, reveling in the sensation of that huge cock buried deep inside her.
Opening her eyes, she found him watching her. For once, there was no humor in his expression, just red-hot desire. She leaned over and kissed him on the mouth as she started to rock gently against him.
Her eyes drifted closed again as she made deliciously slow love to him, worshipping his body with her own, loving the drag of him against her as she raised and lowered herself, the friction against her most sensitive parts as she ground herself down into his lap.
His arms came around her, pulling her against him, holding her close as she kept up the slow, relentless, grinding rhythm. She could hear the heavy thud of his heart, feel the slickness of his sweat-gilded skin, smell the feral heat of his arousal. There was nothing else, only the two of them, closed together in a world of their own making.
The pleasure was building inside them. Rising to a crescendo. So close now. Zach's breath was coming hard and fast, but still she didn't hurry until, at last, she tipped them over the edge, and her body went up in flames. Zach went with her, and their arms tightened around each other as she continued to move, continued to ride them even higher, straining the last drops of pleasure from their exhausted bodies. Finally, she had to stop, and his hands loosened their grip. For long minutes, he held her gently as shudders ran through them both.
He lifted her from his spent body, lay her down on top of him, and brushed her short hair from her face. She gazed up at him sleepily. "I never knew it could be like this," she murmured. Her eyes fluttered closed and exhaustion tugged at her consciousness.
"Go to sleep," he said.
And she did.
****
Zach lay for a long time, watching her sleeping.
Her body sprawled over his, his arms wrapped around her slender back. He didn't want to let her go. He never wanted to let her go. But he knew he had no choice.
They were planning a suicide mission.
There was no way they could get out of there alive. But maybe they didn't all have to die.
He stroked down the long line of her back once, then slipped out from beneath her. She moaned in her sleep but didn't wake, and he stood gazing down at her. If he managed this, she was going to be seriously pissed. But then he was going to be dead, so it wasn't really his problem.
He went in search of Darla.
****
Something pulled Mel from her sleep. She came to consciousness slowly. She was no longer lying on Zach but on the soft sheets, and she was alone in the bed. Dragging herself up on one elbow, she peered around the room. Zach was standing three feet away. She knew instantly that something was wrong, and a jolt of fear ran through her.
"What is it?" she asked.
He didn't answer immediately, and she looked down from his face to his hands. He was holding something, and she recognized the activator from the restraints they had used on him. At first, she thought it must be some game, but his grim expression suggested no games. She glanced at her own hands and was unsurprised when she saw the black cuffs circling her wrists.
She nibbled on her lips trying to think this through. It didn't occur to her that he was double-crossing them in any way. Oh, no, she knew exactly what he was doing. Trying to be a bloody hero. Again!
"I love you," he said.
At the words, she looked up quickly, searching his face.
"You know, I've never said that to anyone before," he continued.
"Don't do this, Zach."
He shook his head. "I've thought it through, and I've got a plan. I figure I can get Leila out safely and kill Sanderson."
"We can do it together," she said.
"Well, you see there's a slight problem with the plan. It doesn't include me getting out of there alive. And while that's an option I'm willing to contemplate for myself, there's no way I'm taking you with me on a suicide mission."
He was toying with the small box as he spoke.
She watched him, her whole body tensing in anticipation. "I mean it, Zach, don't you dare press that button. Look, you may think you're doing this for me. But you are so wrong."
His face remained expressionless, and helpless fury welled up inside her.
How dare he even consider leaving her behind?