by Cora Blu
Oliver got to his feet, crossed to the replicator, and refilled his coffee before returning to the sofa. “Richard’s sending the money back through separate smaller deposits over time, going undetected under the Federal radar. The man’s an excellent thief.”
Captain Holston leaned forward. “An honest living is becoming a casualty of our people on Earth.”
He gave a quick nod. “They’re charging ten grand for any late deliveries on the night of the launch.”
The captain sat forward, his frown dragging his brows down over his eyes. “It’s gonna feel good to put him away…greedy little weasel.”
Oliver angled around seeing the captain dip his head toward the hallway. “Our guest sounds to be waking.”
Oliver stood. Sadie emerged, strolling up the hall while smoothing hair off her face. She gave his home an appreciative sweep from those almond-shaped eyes before settling them on Ted stretched out on the table. He was shocked seeing her quick acceptance of her surroundings and his iguana. Had he misjudged her shy demeanor? He cleared his throat.
“I figured it was faster to show you than try and explain all of this.” He gestured around the room, at his spacious quarters. “Explaining would take too long.” Jesus, was the woman this sexy on Earth? His body ached. Without shame, he stared down at her hips flared out beneath the pockets of her uniform dress. His fingers itched to grip her from behind, sink deep inside her body, while he pressed her against the grey upholstered walls. The thought of listening to her calling out his name until it filled every inch of his home thrilled him. Oliver swallowed just to be able to speak. “You’re in my home…on a space station outside of Mars.”
That sweet southern beauty queen smile curved into a full on sexy woman’s smirk. Wetting his lips, Oliver wanted to feel the press of her lips. The pursed center held a rosy blush as if she’d sucked on a cherry and the juice seeped into her skin. A stain he’d love to have on his body as he curled over her in his bed.
Down boy.
He scrubbed a finger over his brow. He’d been too long without a woman and the scent of her in his home captivated his attention. He watched his two guests share a knowing stare.
“Hello, Captain Holston. You look like you could use some sleep.” Sadie’s sensual greeting grabbed Oliver by the groin.
“Detective Ochi, just keep the coffee coming so I can be there for Leslie.” Captain Holston’s gruff voice greeted her. “See you’ve met Commander Cantrell.”
Sadie shrugged setting her attention on Oliver. “You can say that,” she replied, her soft lips tilted up on the corners making him wonder what they felt like. “The commander and I have had many conversations over the past few months.”
Get a grip on yourself, man. “If you knew about the station, why didn’t I know about you?”
Captain Holston stroked a hand down his goatee then cleared his throat. "Detective Ochi’s been undercover for the last year.”
Oliver blinked his surprise.
"We have a top secret sect of women and men on Earth that spy on individuals we feel are less than honest. Let’s just say unsavory individuals."
His head hurt as he listened. "Spy?"
"Yes, Commander,” Sadie offered quietly, “My secretarial classes at night are meetings I have with other"—she made air quotes—"domestic help down on Earth to protect the health of the planets. We meet anywhere we can to discuss our cases. I just tell the Edwards I have class so they don’t ask me to stay late."
Captain Holston held a hand up getting their attention. "Three years ago, I began an undercover elite class of men and women to pose as domestic help to work inside the homes of people we feel have questionable ties and pose the biggest threat to the Earth, planets, and moons. We call them Domestic Assets. Sadie, along with her colleague’s valuable information, led to the arrest and conviction of over thirty business men trying to sell dirty fuel to Sector Five alone this year."
Oliver couldn’t keep the surprise from his stare when he shot a look to Sadie.
She shrugged a shoulder. “Didn’t your mother ever tell you not to anger the maid or the cook? They know everything that goes on in your home.”
“No, I missed that lesson growing up. Perhaps you can teach me someday when you’re not undercover.” He didn’t attempt to suppress the snide edge to his voice.
The word detective swirled in his head. All this time. He couldn’t believe she’d been undercover. Her thick accent and reserved demeanor had him fooled. Angling around the table, taking a more non-guarded sweep of this woman, he could kiss her just for teasing him in the laundry room. Here he’d worried he scared her. “Detective,” he said, not hiding his raw desire behind his elevated brow. Closing his hand over hers, Oliver pulled the woman closer. “You had me fooled, Detective,” he complained not releasing her hand, instead leaning in until they were sharing the same air. She didn’t budge, just stared at him. “In the laundry room, why didn’t you tell me?” he asked, his shoulders tight with frustration.
“One,” she started, “I thought you were testing me for my impending review next month. It’s been nearly a year since I started working on the station.”
Captain Ryner laughed and it echoed around the room. “You know me too well, Ochi. I’ll have to keep that one in mind, for someone else of course.”
She squinted her eyes. Oliver caught the sceptical glower she’d given him on more than one occasion now focused on the captain. “You’re legendary for unconventional testing, Captain.” She trailed her attention back to Oliver. “Commander, the other reason I kept you in the dark on my position was for my safety and the mission. It’s dangerous to come out of character. It helps if my thoughts and actions remain as Sadie, the maid, would think and respond. Less chance of saying something that might draw attention.” She pointed to the viewing window down toward Earth. “Down there, without trust from the family, my cover is blown.”
The woman was a professional and kept him in the dark all this time. Closing the tiny gap between them, he tugged her a bit closer, breathing in her exotic scent. Her breasts rising and falling with each breath kept him mesmerized. The woman held her ground. Didn’t back down with him so close. Not a drop of fear in her eyes. But under all that, Oliver could smell his cologne rising off her face. She’d been curled up in his sheets and now his scent was all over her. He wasn’t the only one fighting urges. He shook himself as the letters of her name filled his mind.
“Ochi… the name on the tanks… why?”
“That sneaky Edwards used my middle name as a code word for his dirty tanks.”
“You’re middle name is Ochi, Sadie?” he queried. That explained the slant of her eyes.
Sadie nodded, sending her hair to cascade over her shoulders. “My grandfather on my mother’ side was Japanese, hence, Ochi. My father’s black and so was my grandmother.” She looked around. “I’m certain you’ve seen Ochi on your tanks up here in the unloading bays.”
“Edwards has balls to use your name.”
She nodded. “Captain, I’ll write up my report then get it to your office before I transport out. I need to get out of this uniform.” Sadie tugged on the collar of her dress uniform.
“Stay here tonight, Sadie. Take my room, it’s at the end of the hall. We can go over what we heard today. You can use my replicator to call up a change of clothes.”
“I have a home up here, Commander.”
Why hadn’t he ever seen her here before?
“I have the day off tomorrow at the Edwards so I’d already planned to come up tonight.”
“Sadie,” Captain Ryner said getting to his feet. “An estimate on when you see this case coming to a head?”
“With what I learned, I’d say next week we bust him when they go for the launch.”
He wanted to know more about Sadie, the mysterious.
“Can both of you give me a minute. I have questions for Sadie.”
Oliver extended a hand, offering her a seat. The sight of her C-cu
p cleavage between the gaps in her uniform buttons drew his tongue over his lips. She tossed her apron on the sofa, then smoothed a hand down over the blue cotton dress flaring out over her hips. She remained standing.
“The morning I’d decided to let you in on my secret, thinking we’d bring down Edwards together, you shamelessly flirted with me,” she said and he watched her raise a brow. “And you weren’t shy about it, Oliver. Do you even understand the burden you place on a black woman by flirting with her in that situation?”
“I saw a woman, not a color, Sadie.”
“That’s not good enough, Oliver… You flirted without regard to what repercussions Sadie, the maid, would suffer once you jumped into your shuttle and went off into your safe world.” She huffed. “When would you have stopped? When you got tired of playing with me? Once I lost my job? What if the other men assumed I put out and followed me home, then what Oliver?”
Why was she busting his balls? He’d apologized.
“You made your point, Sadie. I screwed up,” he admitted. “We’re working for the same cause.”
“You live in a capsule, Cantrell, where only you matter. On Earth, men and women, black, white, brown, yellow, and red are working toward their dream, but for some reason your wants are more important than Sadie’s needs. That’s where the problem comes in at.”
“I can’t apologize for every indiscretion between man and woman or race to race, Sadie.”
Ryner cleared his throat. “Okay, everybody step back and take a deep breath. Sadie, obviously this isn’t about Oliver. But you raise a valid point we deal with up here during training. There’s no room for racial biases on these missions, especially between colleagues.”
She blew out a long breath. “For once think of someone other than yourself, Cantrell. Women of color have an uphill battle. We have to fight for respect from men in positions of power because for some ridiculous reason, you think we’re desperate for your attention. Then, once you’re done strutting around, we have to assume your amorists overtures as our problem somehow, leaving us with the real threat of losing our jobs. How do married women explain to their husbands that they’d lost their job because some louse couldn’t keep his hands to himself? Or a single woman support herself after that?” She paused examining his expressions. “What were you thinking, Cantrell?”
He scratched his neck, knowing the better question was what he was thinking with. Not his brain. “I wasn’t thinking. I reacted to seeing a good-looking woman—period—nothing else,” he argued, tired of fighting with her over human nature.
She huffed. “It angered me that you knew better and still you chanced me losing my livelihood.”
He groaned. “I flirted because it’s natural. You’re attractive. Next time I’ll throw sticks and spit on you.” He paced. “Give me a break, Sadie, damn. I put on the suit, awakening all the old prejudice mindsets, and I’m voting for segregation all over again.”
“Vote for segregation while simultaneously lusting after black women. Do you hear yourself? I’m not a toy you play with in the closet when no one’s looking, then when I’m broken you pretend you never touched me.”
Disgusted, he threw his hands in the air. “Working up here doesn’t rewrite the views I grew up on, hell, woman. I know it’s wrong. It was selfish to pursue my wants over what was best for the moment or you.”
“I’ve noticed,” she replied, giving him a pitying glance. “Work on shutting that type of thinking down because it’s acid to the heart and any chance of us becoming true friends.”
Captain Holston watched the exchange. “It takes time, Sadie. He admitted to being a dick. Stop busting his balls.”
“You automatically presumed my intentions were malicious, Sadie. We both could use a minute. You responded to my flirting and I wasn’t the only man staring at you in that house, not caring about the ramifications of flirting with you. So take out the anger you feel for me, on me, not the anger you hold for all the bigots in the house.”
He watched her try to hold in her anger under a tight grimace.
“Whether I find you attractive isn’t the point, or if I smile at your overtures. Any visible attraction between us is inappropriate for the time, making me a target for further harassment. But I’ll agree with the Captain, it takes time for me not to see your actions as racially charged.”
He watched a coating of pain engulf Sadie and a tear puddled in the corner of her eye. Racism looked different when you knew the person it’s hurting.
“Let me ask a safe question. How long have you been working the case?”
She frowned in thought. “I’ve worked for the Edwards for eight years, before I was recruited. Now I work for Captain Holston and a secret sect of the government.”
Captain Holston cleared his throat and Oliver tipped a glance at the man. What was that? She eyed Holston.
Oliver didn’t care for Sadie and Ryner’s easy glances. A history he knew nothing about lived between them.
“I’m known around town as the Edwards’ maid and believe it or not, that carries weight when half of the town keeps their life savings at his bank.”
Oliver peered out through the viewing window then back to Sadie. “Your sister, the one you live with, Theresa…How does she—”
“She doesn’t know. And it has to stay that way. My parents died last year and none of my relatives know what I do. If I need to be away for more than a few days, I know enough people that will vouch for me with the Edwards.”
Hearing the Captain adjusting himself to sit forward, Oliver tossed him a look. His lip turned up on the end; Ryner’s version of a smile. “Many try to forgo paying to have their fuel tested for recycling. Sadie’s a member of the Domestic Asset brigade.”
“No one ever suspects the maid as the informant, supplying incriminating information crucial to sentencing those abusing the system. The government allows for a select amount of companies to know of the space station to keep it controlled, and still a few greedy individuals find a way to hurt the program.”
“You know about the karuntees?” Oliver questioned.
“Captain Farkus and a few others.”
Oliver looked at Ryner for clarification.
“Detective Ochi was kidnapped by Farkus,” Captain Holston informed him and rested his arms out over his knees, his face sad.
Oliver blinked. He eyed this woman a second time, concern drawing his brows together. “Kidnapped—Farkus is the fiercest, take nothing from no one, karuntee out there.” He started to touch her face but dropped his hand. “He ever hurt you?”
She cast a sarcastic glance. “Shocked that not every karuntee walks around biting people?” Her face went blank except for the hit of pain she tried to conceal behind a cold stare.
“Just the karuntee’s type. Maybe I should rescue Farkus,” he bit out dropping her hand. The last thing he needed was to fall for the same woman as Aroc. Katherine all over again. He wasn’t prepared for her next words.
“There’s that superior tone you take when someone’s different than you. Karuntians stay to themselves for a reason, Cantrell. Captain Farkus…I’ve come to know him in ways you wouldn’t understand. I don’t see him the same as most.”
Oliver trailed her hands moving toward his cup of coffee. Sadie took a deep drink before she sank down on his sofa. Surprised, he studied her when she reached out a hand and lifted Ted off the table, stroking the iguana as if he were a kitten. More importantly, how carefully she massaged around its spikes. Was she thinking of Captain Farkus’ spikes? Maybe she enjoyed pain. Who other than a karuntian to provide rough sex?
His fists clenched along his side. “What did he do to you, Detective?”
Sadie went still, as if remembering something uncomfortable. “Farkus. He’s like any other captain protecting his station and his people.” She became quiet then rubbed Ted’s spine slow and careful. “He held me captive on Sector Four for a month.” Sadie set the lizard on the table, not making eye contact. Why wouldn’t she
look at him?
“There’s stipulations on interacting with us humans, Sadie. Why didn’t you have him charged?”
Sadie chuckled and it wasn’t a pleasant sound. “I’ve made my peace with the captain, Commander Cantrell.”
“What happened?”
Did he want to know? Maybe not. He’d already asked.
She eyed her nails, the memory unraveling her composure. “He showed up in my backyard on Earth one night when I’d taken the garbage out, told me not to scream, and transported me to his vacation home on Sector Four. Much the same way you did today, Oliver, knowing once I’d seen this world, there was no going back without a memory sweep. You two have a lot in common.”
That irked him…comparing him to a filthy karuntian. He squinted as another question crossed his mind. “Obviously,” he said trailing her face with his eyes, “He let you go, why? What do you have on the captain, Sadie?” At the sight of her shaking her head and peering up through those long lashes, Oliver’s voice trailed off.
“He let me live. There’s a difference,” voice tight, she corrected him and Oliver caught the possession in her words for the karuntee. “After weeks of negotiating, we have an amicable arrangement that suits both of our needs.” Resting back on the sofa, Sadie drew in a long breath releasing it to continue. “The Karuntee captain and I are—friends—alliances on a journey that merged our paths.”
“Then I guess our paths crossed as well.” Angered by her corny drivel he shot back while pacing a circle, “The difference—Sadie—is I don’t force myself on women.”
She jerked her head around, her big brown eyes full of fire. “When did I say he forced me to be anything I wasn’t willing to be? I do what I want and if that offends you…not my problem.”
One brow jacked up in frustration. “I guess there’s someone for everyone.”
Ryner sat forward.
Sadie said, “Let’s hope so, Commander. We can’t all desire the same meal. There wouldn’t be enough to go around.”
They both looked over as Ryner’s voice boomed through the space. “Hold off on the assumptions, Commander Cantrell. Detective Ochi’s accepted by the karuntians. Farkus allows her access where other humans are denied. She’s risked her life many times to develop the relationship they have. Farkus gives her access I could never get on my own.”