by Cara Bristol
Then a thought struck. “That’s what you wore under your robe? What if Kilead—” He had to tamp down the growing rage at the possibility of Kilead seeing her like this.
“He never would have gotten this far. I would have killed him first. But the servants had dressed me. So after I left his chamber, I changed back into my own underwear.”
“I like you in your skivvies,” he said. “You’d make a hell of a recruitment poster,” he said. “If I’d known there were female cyborgs like you, I would have joined Cy-Ops long before I did.”
She snapped to attention and saluted. “Cyber Operations wants you!”
He laughed. She giggled, and he smothered their amusement under a searing kiss. Underwear joined the other clothing on the floor, and they grope-walked to the slim, hard bunk passing for a bed and tumbled onto it. He sucked in a deep breath when her hands sought out his cock. She stroked the aching length before swirling her thumb in the precum pearling at the tip then bringing the digit to her mouth and licking it clean. Her eyes flirted.
“You’re asking for trouble,” he said.
“I’m hoping to get some.” She waggled her eyebrows.
“Trouble is what you want? Let’s see what I can do.” He cupped her breasts, appreciating the weight, the smoothness of her skin, the pertness of her erect nipples. Their coupling on Darius 4 had been too frantic, too rushed to allow for appreciation. Haste had fed misunderstanding. He wouldn’t make the same mistake—especially since this could be his last chance to make things right. They had no guarantees. Not even of a tomorrow. What if they were captured? With their future so uncertain, he intended to make this opportunity last a lifetime. So no rushing—no matter how much the urgency pounded in his body.
She tugged at his chest hair, and the pull traveled clear to his groin. He kissed her then. Scent and taste mingled like a tantalizing aphrodisiac. She squeezed his shaft and pumped. His balls tightened when she cupped them.
Heated urgency spiked. No rushing, not this time.
Sonny ducked his head and sucked a nipple into his mouth, flicking his tongue over the thick, pebbled tip. Bit lightly. She moaned and arched her back. He fondled her breasts but sent his hands on reconnaissance, venturing over muscled abs into a neat, trim forest of curls, to the hot, wet center between her legs. In a circular motion, he teased her clit before dipping one then a second, finger into the depths of her sex. She clamped around the digits.
Fuck, she was tight. Had been perfect when he’d plowed into her before. Body and mind remembered. Wanted. Needed it again. But not yet.
He didn’t have anything to prove. Well, maybe he did.
Withdrawing his hand, he sought her gaze then licked his fingers. Tangy and sweet. Like she was. Prickly in some ways, soft in others. A trained, skilled cyberoperative every millimeter his equal. His team leader, yet still the woman under his protection. Call it macho, call it sexist crap if you wished, the man in him couldn’t not protect her. And the cyborg in him gave him the means to do so.
Nanos buzzed.
He flashed a grin then scooted on his belly to wedge himself between her thighs. Still watching her face, he parted her folds and licked. Amanda’s eyes widened, and she gasped.
With lips, tongue, and even a few gentle nips, he teased, flicking over her clit while slowly fucking her with two fingers. When he sensed her approaching orgasm, he backed off, stroking her folds, her inner thighs, circling, but not entering her pussy. Several times, he brought her to the brink but refused to let her fall.
She locked her thighs around his head, thrust her hips at his face, pounded the bed with clenched fists.
Damn you. Let me come. Fuck me already.
I will. Chuckling, he blew warm air over her heated flesh. He reached up and pinched a nipple. But not yet.
Playing with fire. If he didn’t let her come soon, she’d do more than swear—she’d probably kill him. But what a way to go. He sucked on her clit, and her pussy rippled around his finger. Her face screwed up. She was trying to squeeze one off to spite him!
A contest, was it?
Naughty, naughty. He rolled her and landed two cupped swats to her sexy ass.
Did you spank me?
There’s more where that came from, if you don’t behave. He swatted her a couple more times.
You—you—
He laughed and guided his cock to her entrance. One second, the head of his cock grazed nirvana, and the next he lay flat on his back, straddled by a smirking Amanda. I win, she crowed.
Either way, his dick couldn’t lose, but if this was how she intended to play the game…
All right, he lied, feigning surrender.
Her face glowed with triumph, but, underneath, disappointment flashed, so quickly if he’d blinked he would have missed it. She wanted to win…but didn’t want to.
No fast marital arts’ moves for him. He rolled her, taking care not to dump her off the bed. She resisted, fighting back with all her might. Through the sheer power of his strength, he flipped her facedown and bottom up. She put up a good fight. She would have bested a normal man. A cyborg with his brawn? Not happening. Panting, she attempted to wiggle away, but he grabbed her hips, and, in a single plunge, thrust inside. Gripped by her tight, wet passage, he shook with need.
She howled, tossing her head as if trying to butt him. “Damn you.”
He withdrew halfway then plunged back in, watching his cock disappear into her pussy. “Do you want me to stop?”
“I want”—she moved against him—“to be on top.”
“Sorry, that’s not part of the mission plan.”
Need burgeoned within, pressure building in the base of his cock, but he maintained control, thrusting long and slow, catching her clit on the inward slide and again on the outward draw. Curses slid into moans, and she fisted the rough, scratchy bedclothes.
He growled, and his body picked up the pace, moving faster, thrusting harder.
Her channel convulsed, and she cried out as ecstasy ripped through her. His body gave it up, exploding in orgasm. He ground his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut as waves of pleasure erupted and he pumped into her receptive body.
They collapsed. He rolled to his side and pulled her into the cradle of his body. Her back fit snugly against his front.
You don’t play fair, she said.
I play to win.
I’ll remember.
I’m willing to meet you for a rematch.
Fine. She paused. Give me a minute, okay?
He laughed and hugged her.
After a long moment, she twisted her head around and peered back at him. The corner of her mouth twitched. “For the record, in case you’re interested, Manny thought the sex was fuckilicious.”
Fuckilicious beat not bad any day.
Chapter Ten
Amanda bolted upright in bed. Beside her, Sonny had done the same.
Shouts and thundering footsteps rocked the walls. “What the hell?” He met her gaze.
“I’ll find out.” Naked, she slipped out of bed.
“No, let me.”
“You’re still confined to quarters.” And obviously still considered her the little woman who couldn’t handle things on her own. She shot him a warning scowl as she pulled on her skivvies and robe. She patted the ridge plastered to her forehead. “Still good?”
“Good. Mine?” He pulled on his pants.
“Fine.”
She tiptoed to the door. It slid open, and she took a step into the hall. The guard outside whipped around. Armed soldiers charged by. Oh fuck. Has Kilead awakened? Does he remember?
“What’s happening?” Sonny said from over her shoulder. Her success of the previous evening meant nothing. Didn’t he think she could ask a simple question?
“Get back inside.” The guard motioned.
“Are we under attack?” Sonny asked.
“Lamani-al-bon is dead,” the guard answered.
Dead? Dead? “What? How?” she gasped.
&
nbsp; The guard motioned with his photon blaster. “Get back inside. Both of you!”
Sonny pulled her into the room. The door slid shut. “What did you do? How much Loquitol did you give him?”
“Only—only a double dose—but he didn’t drink it all. It should have knocked him out, not killed him.” But Loquitol had never been tested on alien physiology. Nor was it intended to be ingested with Ceridian brandy. Had she killed him? He’d been alive and snoring when she’d left. Amanda rubbed her arms. If the Loquitol-brandy cocktail had depressed his heart and lungs—he could have gone into respiratory and cardiac arrest after she’d departed.
“Well, obviously it did. We have to get out of here, stat.” He yanked on his shirt. “The situation is about to get nasty.”
“Maybe they’ll assume he died of natural causes.”
“At the ripe old age of thirty-five?” He twisted his mouth. “As soon as they figure out you were the last one with him, they’ll run a bio scan, find the serum, and then we’re toast.”
“Loquitol dissipates quickly.”
“In humans. In Lamis-Odg, who knows? What did you do with the leftover brandy, the Loquitol?”
“I dumped it and disposed of the bottle in the refuse destructor.”
“At least they won’t find the murder weapon.”
“I didn’t mean to kill him. He should have slept until morning, not died!” This was disastrous. They needed Kilead’s approval to get off the planet. Or even to leave the compound! They were screwed. Sneaking out of a secure facility offered enough of a challenge without a bounty on your head. Not only had she endangered her life, she’d put Sonny’s at risk, too. Maybe her father was right. Perhaps she couldn’t hack it.
“I blew it. I screwed up what could have been a perfect mission.” Amanda bit her lip. She felt horrible.
“Hey!” He gave her a quick hug. “There are no perfect missions, and this was dicey from the start. Collateral damage happens. I’m not going to cry because the galaxy has one less terrorist. Who knows how many executions and bombings he’s responsible for?”
He released her and scooted around the room’s perimeter, running his hands over the walls. “But it does complicate matters. One, it leaves a void within the power structure, which will be filled by somebody.” An unknown somebody, who could be worse.
“Two, when we’re identified as suspects, they’ll be gunning for us,” Sonny said.
When. Not if.
“Three, when Lamani learns an off-worlder killed his son, he’ll retaliate with another terrorist strike.” He strode to the bed and flipped it over. It thudded dully when he thumped it with his fist. “Solid. Crap.”
“What are you doing?”
“Checking for a place to hide.”
“In the mattress?”
“If it was hollow inside—”
“You’d never fit!”
“No, but you would.”
“I’m not going to hide while you’re captured! What kind of coward do you think I am?”
“I think you want to stay alive.”
“I do. But I’ll fight my way out,” she said vehemently.
“Good because, right now, battling our way out appears to be our only option.” He righted the bed again. “Here’s the plan: we overpower the guards, collect their weapons then make a break for it. I don’t have a fucking clue how we’re going to get off the planet; getting out of the compound will be a miracle in itself.”
Miracle: an extraordinary act brought about with intercession by a god.
They were as good as dead. “This is my fault.”
Sonny shook his head. “His death doesn’t make escape easier, but our chances were slim anyway. I’m not convinced he would have let us go.”
She wasn’t either, not even with the somnial suggestions she’d planted. A wervic didn’t change its rings. It would take more than a little drug-induced hypnosis to convert Kilead from terrorist to humanitarian.
“Our first major obstacle, as I see it, will be getting past the tower and the bio scan,” he said.
“Maybe we don’t have to—we might have a get-out-of-the-compound-free card.” Nanos buzzed as an idea formulated. “After he passed out, I uploaded the data files from his PerComm to my microprocessor. If no one checks his device, I might be able to forge and transmit travel docs to the tower.”
His eyes glinted with approval. “That might work.”
“I considered using his PerComm to message Carter, but I worried it would be traced back to us—and would open up a window of vulnerability to Cy-Ops—so I didn’t.”
He nodded. “Good call. Under the circumstances, tracing it to us wouldn’t have mattered, but we don’t want to give Lamis-Odg the wherewithal to hack into the Cyber Operations network.”
His praise sent a little shaft of warmth through her, thawing the cold, hard knot her fuckup had caused. She had messed up, but he focused on what needed to be done, rather than on assigning blame, and treated her like her opinion still mattered and her contribution was valuable. So not like her father.
With the two of them teaming up, maybe they could get out of this alive. Sonny deserved to. He’d played by the book. She was the one who’d screwed up.
“We’ll want to leave our PerComm here,” he said. “They’d be able to track us through it. We won’t need it anyway, since you have Kilead’s files.” He glanced at the door then at her. “How would you like to put some of those feminine wiles to work?”
“What are you suggesting?”
“We’re going to have to knock out the guards.” He traced an artery in his neck. “Are you familiar with the L-O pressure hold?”
“Of course.” A nerve ran parallel to the carotid artery in Lamis-Odg people. Apply pressure to it, and they collapsed within seconds. She’d learned the technique in Cy-Ops academy. Too bad they hadn’t taught Loquitol would kill them.
“If you miss, take him out any way you can. But do it quietly.” He cocked an ear. “The commotion in the hall seems to have died down, but if the guards aren’t alone, we’ll need to stall until they are.”
“Understood,” she said. It rankled he had assumed control when she was the team leader, but she couldn’t blame him. She’d single-handedly jeopardized the entire mission.
“I’ll get the bigger, uglier one. The cyborg,” he said.
“He’s a cyborg?” From intel they’d gotten when cyberoperative Kai Andros had gone undercover on General Obido’s space station, they knew the terrorists had the technology to create cyborgs. How many and what capabilities they had—those were the open, worrisome unknowns.
“I found out the hard way. I’d decided to come find you; the guards stopped me. From the speed the one moved, I’m pretty sure he’s a cyborg. He blasted me before I knew what hit me. It paralyzed me for more than an hour.”
Sonny was lucky. The guard could have killed him instead. “He might be suspicious of you, then. I should take the big one.”
“Nah. I have a score to settle.”
Did he? Or did he doubt her ability? An absence of criticism did not necessarily imply trust. In truth, she doubted her own capabilities now. Sonny would never violate the cyborg code by telling anyone about her screw up, but she wouldn’t forget. “All right.”
“Okay. Let’s kick some ass.”
* * * *
“You are to go directly to your quarters. Do not dally,” Sonny said in a stern, brotherly voice.
“Yes, Tetric. I understand,” she said, but peered up at the smaller, younger guard from beneath her lashes. “You must have found favor with the Great One to have achieved such an important assignment with Lamani-al-bon—may he serve in glory in the Blessed Beyond.” She winced. Not a good idea to remind the guards of the recent debacle.
The younger one, anyway, seemed not to notice. “My assignment is as the Great One wills,” he said, but his chest puffed out and his grip on his weapon released a tad, which her nano-enhanced senses noted.
She fak
ed a seductive smile. “I feel so much safer knowing we are protected from infidels who would annihilate us.”
“There is little danger from infidels in the homeland and none in the compound,” snapped the guard pegged as a cyborg.
So why were they under such tight surveillance? Trust must be a scarce commodity.
Amanda leaned in close to the young guard, as if his weapon didn’t exist. “Well, I, for one, am glad you’re here,” she said in a low voice. “Thank you for your service.” The ridge in his forehead pulsed, and she noted a slight twitch in his trousers. Kilead had said she was homely. This one didn’t think so. Or maybe he was horny as hell. The prohibitions of culture and religion didn’t leave the lower ranks much of an opportunity to get laid. She sauntered around him, swirling her skirts against his legs. He pivoted to watch her leave. In her peripheral vision, she saw the cyborg guard turn slightly.
Now! Sonny said.
She spun and grabbed the young guard in a chokehold. His eyes rolled back into his head, and he slumped. She relieved him of the blaster as he fell. The other guard let out a choked shout, and got off a shot, which lit the opposite wall red, but then he, too, hit the floor.
“Quick, get them inside,” Sonny said.
They dragged in the limp men and dumped the bodies onto the bed. Amanda began unfastening the young guard’s uniform.
“What are you doing?”
“Stealing his clothes. They’ll be searching for a man and woman. They’ll be less likely to notice two males. Give me a hand.”
After they stripped him, Amanda donned his uniform. The boots were a tad too big, so she borrowed Sonny’s universal implement and cut swatches from her skirt, which she stuffed into the toes. Clomping boots would hamper her ability to run.
Grabbing a hunk of her hair, she sawed at it with the blade.
“Amanda—what the fuck!”
“I’ll never pass for a man if I’m running around with shoulder-length hair.”
She hacked away, shearing off curls close to her scalp, sucking back tears. It’s only hair. It will grow back. Their lives were in jeopardy, and she wept over hair? Buck up! When it lay in at an angle on the floor, she shook her head. “How do I look?”