Heat flashed in her eyes, proclaiming her a liar even as she shook her head. “Still obsessed with public performances, Lorcan?”
Cupping her breast, he ran his thumb across the nipple straining against her shirt. “Except we’re alone now.” He rolled the puckered flesh back and forth between his fingers, tugging gently.
From beneath heavy lids, she surveyed the deserted observation deck, her quick intake of breath echoing between their mouths.
“Worried?” He ran his tongue along her bottom lip, biting down at the featherlight caress of her fingers tracing the underside of his cock. Almost as good as her mouth would feel there, sliding down to the base, then back up to circle the head.
She pulled her hand away, locking both behind his neck and lifting her hips to rub herself against him. Her mouth grazed his ear. “You tell me.”
Gathering the pink material in his fist, he started up the inside of her thigh, sliding higher…higher. She squirmed in his lap and he cursed under his breath. If they hadn’t left his quarters he’d have her naked already. He wouldn’t have to recall her lush breasts in his mind, their tips hard and dark with arousal. They’d already be bared to him, the stiff peaks trapped between his lips instead of his fingers.
“Well,” she prompted, a tremor drawing the last sound out.
He parted her folds in one smooth stroke, found her warm and damp and ready. “Very worried, I’d say.” He thumbed her clit, swirling her wetness around the sensitive knot.
She arched her back, pushed her breasts closer to his face. Tilting her back in his arms, he bent his head, drawing his mouth down her throat to the pale swells. He tugged her shirt down to expose her nipple, closing his mouth over her at the same time he pushed two fingers into her sex.
Kaela’s quiet cry of pleasure cranked the lust pooling in his gut. As quickly as he pulled her between his lips, he released his hold. Her shirt curled back into place, and he grinned at her frustrated moan. Her tight sheath rippled around him, clenching as he thrust slowly. The sweet memory of her sex wrapped around his cock, sucking him deeper, made his heart drum against his ribs. He drove his fingers in a little harder, catching her whimper with his mouth.
She trembled, her fingers sinking into his shoulders as she took over the kiss, pulling his tongue between her lips. He groaned, moving to free himself from his pants. They remained alone on the observation deck, but he knew that wouldn’t last. Just like he knew he wouldn’t last if he didn’t get inside her.
Now.
Her long skirt hid his movements and he nearly sighed when his arousal brushed the inside of her thigh. Kaela’s eyes went wide then slammed shut as he dragged the head of his cock up her cleft. With one hand wrapped around the base of his shaft, he gripped her hip, wrenching her closer.
And sinking so fucking deep he almost yelled. Using both hands now, he cupped her ass, launching them both into a fierce rhythm. Her panted breath raced across his skin, electrifying every nerve ending from his gut to the tip of his cock. He planted his feet on the floor, using the leverage to thrust harder into her.
“People,” she murmured, starting to squirm away from him.
He didn’t let go, remaining inside her as the voices drifted closer. To anyone who passed by they were merely caught in a tight embrace. She slowly flexed her hips once, twice, and his eyes damn near rolled back in his head. If they were still alone he didn’t have a doubt in his mind he would have pushed her onto her back and put them both out of their misery.
From the corner of his eye, he noticed a small group of people stroll by. A group he wouldn’t have taken a second look at if he’d missed the slight tensing of Kaela’s shoulders as they neared.
Nothing on her face revealed that he was balls deep inside her, rocking so gently no one would notice, but he recognized the ready-for-action edge he’d glimpsed the night the Battalia boarded the ship.
Curious, he swept his gaze over the half-dozen people. Four women—slaves—and two men. One of them wavered on his feet, having indulged in too much wine tonight was Lorcan’s guess. Something about the other man pulled at his memory.
Son of a bitch.
He recognized the only one in the group who managed not to stagger—the slave dealer from the auction.
* * *
Caught on the edge of release, Kaela averted her face, dismissing her initial awareness of Varek’s dealer. The man’s presence did nothing but remind her that in a few more hours she’d have to start thinking about her mission again. One that had gotten a hell of a lot more complicated the second the Battalia came looking for her.
But being half draped across Lorcan’s lap, his hard length locked inside her, had nothing to do with objectives, not when she rolled her hips forward, felt him slide a little deeper.
“Well, that explains a lot.”
She frowned at the chill in Lorcan’s voice. She started to ask him what was wrong, the question jamming in her throat at his brutal thrust. Followed by another and another.
“Don’t look at them,” Lorcan demanded when she started to look over her shoulder to see if they were alone once more. “Look at me.”
The feral glitter in his eyes ramped up her heart rate. He pushed both his hands under her long skirt, his fingers digging into her bottom as he rocked her back and forth. Harder.
She pulled him forward to meet her mouth, hissing first in frustration then in pleasure when he ducked his head and devoured the curve of her neck. His teeth scraped and his mouth sucked, his earlier subtlety abandoned for a punishing tempo. The pleasure skirted the edge of pain, but he didn’t let up, pumping faster, driving them both to the edge.
“Nothing has changed,” he growled. He caught the nape of her neck, his intense gaze burning into hers. “You still belong to me.”
Clinging to him, Kaela nodded. Not because he’d bought her or expected her to agree, but because, right now, she wanted to be his. Wanted it so much it scared her.
He rammed her sex against him, grinding hard. She cried out, clamping her lips together as an explosive release ripped through her. Lorcan tipped her back on the bench, plunging hard into her, his hands trembling on her hips when he came seconds later.
She closed her eyes, wondering if she’d ever be able to breathe normally again. He eased away from her, straightening his pants and leaving her to fix her skirt. Without a word, he pulled her to her feet and steered her off the observation deck.
“You and I have a few things to talk about.”
* * *
“Am I supposed to care that we’re back to this?” She didn’t bother to lift the restraints bracketing her wrists. The gesture was only worth it when he didn’t have his back turned. A view she’d been treated to exclusively since they’d disembarked the passenger cruiser and settled in their rooms at Varek’s villa.
“Tell me why you’re investigating Varek and I’ll take them off.” He didn’t look at her, a fact she was almost thankful for. Better than him glowering at her.
“My answer hasn’t changed.” And it wouldn’t. Just as it hadn’t changed since the second he escorted her off the observation deck and demanded answers.
The Battalia’s search of the passenger cruiser complicated her assignment, compromised it. Knowing someone tipped off the Battalia certainly left her with a shorter suspect list, hopefully making it easier to identify who was working with Varek.
Since the Battalia failed to locate her, whoever the traitor was might even assume she wasn’t anywhere near Pursias and no longer planned to attend tonight’s gala. Having that small advantage, however, didn’t amount to much when she didn’t know who she could trust with the information.
At the moment she wasn’t in a position to relay her suspicions to anyone anyway.
Like being bought by the wrong man, she hadn’t anticipated Lorcan recognizing Varek’s slave dealer, or expected him to draw conclusions that pointed to her interest in the former chancellor. Denying the connection only annoyed Lorcan, so she’d fallen
into the habit of saying nothing at all. Oddly enough, that seemed to tick him off even more.
“You can tell me the truth or you won’t leave these rooms for the duration of the celebration.”
She crossed her legs, gently bouncing the foot that showed off her anklet. “Then I guess neither will you.”
He pivoted to face her, his expression unforgiving. “Do you know what he’d do if he knew you were here?”
“Invite me for drinks?” she drawled.
Lorcan stalked toward her, jerking Kaela to her feet. “Is this how you treat every assignment, with such a casual disregard for what’s at stake?”
She shrugged, ignoring the anger that licked up her spine. “Makes it more fun.”
“It’s no wonder those other assholes caught up with you.”
The reminder stung, and she wrenched her arm out of his grasp. “Why do you care what I was assigned to do? I’m just a slave now, aren’t I?” She searched his eyes. “Unless you’re worried I’ll interfere with why you’re here.”
His blank face revealed nothing, but the theory made sense. Whatever deal he’d come here to close could be threatened if Varek discovered he’d brought a sentinel along, but then Lorcan would have known that from the start. So why had he risked it?
“Whatever your intentions were, they’re irrelevant now,” he continued.
“Exactly who are you trying to convince here?” The man could issue orders until he was blue in the face. That didn’t mean she was about to forget what she’d been tasked to do. Playing a slave for the sake of a mission wasn’t the same as turning her back on what she’d been working toward for the last two years.
So she’d spent a couple of days playing to his whims, indulged in satisfying the desire he ignited within her. It didn’t change the big picture. Complicated it maybe. Okay, complicated it a lot. The longer she spent with him, the more she found him at odds with the man she had arrested.
More importantly, the longer this lasted, the more she’d want to believe she’d been wrong about him. The more she’d wanted him to be the man who made her smile as often as he turned her on, who tried teaching her to play an instrument when she didn’t possess a musical bone in her body. A man who watched her when she pretended to be asleep, content to trail his fingers over her skin for no reason other than to feel her.
She wanted him to be that man and not the criminal carrying a grudge against her.
“Varek is heartless when it comes to protecting what he thinks is his,” Lorcan continued.
“If you’re so worried, why not just hand-deliver me to him yourself. I’m sure there would be a hefty bonus in it for you.”
An unreadable emotion flashed in his eyes, followed by an anger he didn’t try to mask. “Don’t tempt me.”
“Then stop being an ass,” she fired back.
A flicker of a smile caught the corner of his mouth, and she glared at him.
“You knew what I was when you placed your first bid. Knew the contract would be temporary and that I’d fight you every step of the way.”
“But you didn’t, did you?” He cradled her jaw. “I didn’t need to force you into my bed. You went willingly.”
“A means to an end.”
He brushed his thumb across her cheek. “Now who’s trying to convince whom?”
* * *
The woman infuriated the hell out of him.
From beneath the dark shade of an awning, Lorcan watched Kaela sitting by the edge of the pool. With one knee bent and tucked beneath her, her other leg swayed back and forth in the water.
He’d come to meet Zypher to make sure everything was set for tonight, and not trusting Kaela alone in their room, brought her along. Any man who could tear their eyes of the vision she made in the skimpy red suit would have assumed she was completely absorbed in the warming rays of sunshine.
With her eyes closed and her face tilted toward the sun, a cool drink at her side, he might have been fooled himself. If he didn’t know her better.
A handful of women lingered around the pool, but she skillfully avoided being drawn into any lengthy conversations. Every now and then she glanced his way as she toyed with the anklet, no doubt to remind him she was done biding her time, as she had on the ship, and because she knew it would provoke him.
The sentinel enjoyed that almost as much as he enjoyed getting even with her for it.
He’d given up on dragging the details of her assignment out of her. She’d earned her position as a sentinel for a reason and clearly it wasn’t because she looked incredible in her little red outfit.
“Still in one piece, I see.”
Lorcan didn’t take his eyes off Kaela as Zypher slipped into the lounge chair opposite him. Two freshly poured ales were placed on the table between them by one of the dozens of slaves Varek kept at his villa.
There were only three other settlements on the small desert continent, the closest one being a ten-hour flight away. Unfortunately, that made arranging their departure a little more complicated. All guests were expected to leave the celebration on the same passenger cruiser they’d arrived on.
Once Lorcan reclaimed what Varek had stolen, he wasn’t about to hang around and wait for the man to notice, which had made alternate transportation off the planet imperative.
Annoyed the cold drink did nothing to temper the uneasy vibe chewing him up inside, Lorcan set his glass down.
“A little added excitement on the trip here, huh?”
Lorcan studied his friend. “I hope you found it as unexpected as I did.” He’d already decided his friend hadn’t tipped off the Battalia, but Kaela, on the other hand, knew more than she was letting on.
Zypher didn’t comment, but glanced toward the pool where Kaela pretended not to eavesdrop on the three men who conversed to her right.
“Where were you at the time?”
His friend gestured to the pool. “Stuck in the lift with Zoe.”
Lorcan scanned the pool until he caught sight of the vibrant redhead slicing across the surface of the pool in long, graceful strokes. “Does her brother know she’s with you?”
Zypher shrugged, taking a long drink of ale. “He wanted her out from underfoot.”
Something in the other man’s voice caught Lorcan’s attention. “I’m surprised he figured she’d be up for this.” Zoe had taken Erik’s death harder than anyone. When Zypher didn’t meet his gaze he added, “He thinks she’s watching the ship back at the spaceport, doesn’t he?”
Zypher finally nodded, then frowned as Zoe zeroed in on Kaela. “No good can come possibly come from that.”
Lorcan started to point out that the same could be said about the barely veiled interest on Zypher’s face—and he wasn’t looking at Kaela. “Probably not,” Lorcan ventured, watching as the two women started talking.
“Still think involving her in this was your best move?”
Nowhere close. “About as smart as you bringing Zoe along.”
Zypher shook his head. “Not the same thing at all.”
“I suppose you’re right. I don’t pretend that I don’t want Kaela.”
His friend’s fingers tightened on his glass, the only outward sign Lorcan’s comment had struck a chord. A few seconds passed and Zypher relaxed. “How has your master plan for revenge worked out?”
“Fine.”
“Which explains why you haven’t taken your eyes off her since you sat down.” Zypher leaned back in his chair. “Shit. You let her get under your skin.” It was more an observation than a question.
“No.” Absolutely not. Getting tangled up in a woman who had him arrested and cost him the cargo Varek had stolen in the first place was not part of the plan.
He bent the law when it suited his purpose and she worked to keep it intact, which put them at two opposite ends of the spectrum. And if buying her off the auction block on impulse wasn’t glaring proof of that fact, then blackmailing her to get what he wanted drove the point home.
She tried his p
atience and denied the attraction that crackled between them as often as she invited his touch. She provoked him, frustrated him, intrigued him, all-around fascinated the hell out of him.
And when she smiled at him, one of those soft, sleepy smiles when she woke up, like she hadn’t yet remembered how they ended up together, it felt like he’d found the kind of rare and priceless artifact you never wanted to let go of.
Well, fuck.
“No,” he said again, not sure he’d actually voiced the denial aloud the first time, and trying hard not to choke on the word.
Zypher didn’t even pretend to look convinced. “You’ve changed your mind about using her if we run into trouble, haven’t you?” Zypher asked.
Ignoring the question, Lorcan went to get Kaela before things crossed the point of no return for everyone involved.
CHAPTER SEVEN
“You’re not a slave.”
Kaela stared at the woman standing hip-deep in the pool. The redhead ventured closer, her smile friendly despite the assessing expression on her face.
“Pardon me?”
The woman nodded to the brand on her hip, keeping her voice low. “It does look a lot more convincing than mine.” She turned to show off the twin suns tattoo on her shoulder blade. “Zypher actually assumed I planned on getting a real one for this gig. As if.” She shuddered.
“Zypher?”
“He’s over there, sitting with Lorcan.”
The redhead knew Lorcan? Kaela glanced over her shoulder, instantly recognizing the man having a drink with her prime. “Ah.”
“I take it you’ve met.”
“He…got in my way,” she settled on. Being annoyed about the man’s interference in the merchant’s shop was pointless after the fact. Especially when she wouldn’t have ended up exactly where she needed to be without him. Wouldn’t have ended up in Lorcan’s bed for the last three days.
“I’m not his biggest fan either most days.”
“So you know Lorcan,” Kaela prompted.
The woman angled her head, considering. “Not as well as you know him, I bet.” She grinned, a hint of laughter shining in her eyes. She held out her hand. “I’m Zoe.”
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