Gambit

by Kim Knox

  Aleph let out a slow groan. “Cloning is so much more…clean.”

  Chae laughed and popped one of the red ambrosia roots into her mouth. The quick heat and burst of sharp berries lit sparks on her taste buds. She drew in a breath to let the heat fill her lungs. She could never resist the things. Aleph knew that. “All this flesh around you.” She waved her hand to the prime stock in softly illuminated display cases set up against the curve of the back wall. “And you’ve never been tempted?” She grinned at the flash of annoyance in his all-black eyes. A Samekh wasn’t bred with a sexual imperative. It was well-known, but she couldn’t help poking her friend about it.

  She ran her tongue around her teeth, catching the last of the ambrosia root’s fire, and got back to the point. “I need to use your business access to the hangar.”

  “Best not, Chae. The hangar is swarming with suits.”

  Her heart jumped, but she kept her face passive. “Government suits?” She laughed. “My accounts are straight.”

  “Off-world suits. Mean. They took pot shots at Mali, took out her whole arm and then blasted the regrowing buds until she talked.” He paused. “They were looking for you. She identified your ship.” He wiped his hand through the air and a shimmer of gleaming light trailed from his fingers. An image solidified of the inside of the hangar and her ship.

  The great flare of its gray wings swept up toward the clear shield stretching over the hangar. Chae’s heart cramped to see men surrounding it—worse, trying to hack it to gain entry. Aleph stretched his fingers and the screen blurred and refocused. The men looked grim and had guns. Very big guns.

  Chae wiped her hand across her mouth. “Fuck.” She let out a sour laugh. “Who did I piss off now?”

  Aleph wiped away the image. “I don’t know, but you set foot in the hangar…” His words trailed away and he let out a slow breath, the air hissing through his mouth plate. “You’re one of my best customers.” His gaze narrowed on Daned. “Mostly.” He pressed his hands to his chest, covering his hearts. Aleph wanted to deal. “So, I can make you an offer. I’d say you need to get off-planet until this—whatever it is—dies down.”

  Her black crystal sat somewhere in the hangar. She could almost feel the pulse of it, the smooth blackness sliding warm and wanted under her fingers. The expensive sliver in her boot was little comfort right then. Especially when she had to walk away from crates of it. Shit. Shit. Shit. Her luck had struck again. “What are you offering, Aleph?” She held up her hand. “And before you ask for payment, I only came away with him.” Her heart missed a beat as Aleph ran his critical gaze over Daned. “And you’re not having him. He and I have plans.”

  Aleph huffed. “Putting your need before sense?”

  She gave a loose shrug. “Would you expect anything less?”

  “From you? No.” Aleph ran his palm over his head. “My pod-brother Zayin has a reclamation yard in Baruun Urt. I will arrange for him to give you a tau-class ship.”

  Tau-class. Chae held down a wince. It would just have enough power to pull out of the atmosphere and a three-fold increase to rift lock. Damn it. And hell, it’d be barely big enough for two people. She couldn’t help it; her gaze flitted over Daned and his tantalizing lithe perfection. The display room’s soft lighting almost gilded his honey-brown skin. She pinched the bridge of her nose to try to divert her brain from thoughts of removing his gold and getting him even more naked. And failed.

  “You’re not normally this altruistic…” Yes, she wanted to know what the Samekh wanted. He didn’t do anything out of the goodness of his hearts.

  “Your ship is unharmed. We’ll have it.” His grin irked her. “You can always buy it back.”

  “A gamma-class in exchange for a chair half-strapped to an engine?”

  “Yes or no, Chae? I had the drek surround you, block you from the suits.” His grin faded. “I can just as easily let you go into the hangar and meet the men who are so eager to find you.”

  Chae let out a long breath. “How are you getting me—us—out of here?”

  “Are you sure you still want to be burdened with flesh?”

  She pushed herself away from the table and stretched her spine. She pocketed a handful of the red roots. Aleph was already skinning her. It was the least she could take. “If all I have is the clothes I’m standing up in, then I’ll need some comfort.”

  Aleph shook his head. “Yes, I really expect nothing more from you.”

  “You have my ship.” Her voice was clipped, she couldn’t stop it. It’d taken her years, and the only piece of luck she’d had in her life was being gifted her ship. And it let her do what she did best—fly. For a moment, she closed her eyes and reminded herself that there were still two crates of black crystal with her name on them. A tau-class, with maybe three rift locks, would get them to Ladaia-prime in time.

  Just.

  Chae put out her hand and Aleph’s rough-skinned palm slapped against hers. His claws dug into the skin of her wrist. She ignored the sting and was thankful he didn’t draw blood. She had no choice. She had to go with the option he gave her. “Show us the way out, Aleph.”

  Chapter Three

  “This Aleph.” Daned whispered the words against her neck, his hands sliding to her hips. Chae leaned back into the hardness of his body and tilted her head to expose more of her skin to his mouth. “Can you trust him?”

  Chae closed her eyes and ignored the rest of the passengers standing and sitting in the crowded sky track coach. The rhythmic rock and pull of the carriage made her grip his strong forearms, the throb of the engines vibrating through her flesh pulsing with the insane need she had to have Daned. “Yes.” Her reply was little more than a whisper.

  “Are you sure?”

  “You didn’t investigate him?”

  “We did. No Ladaian connections, besides you.” He licked her skin, a slow slide of his tongue from the curve of her shoulder to the sensitive skin below her ear.

  A soft mewl escaped her and fresh heat pooled low in her belly. Damn him. But his mouth on her skin was the only way they could communicate in such a public place. She couldn’t have a proper conversation with flesh; they’d been grown and fitted to think only of pleasure. “I’ve known him years,” she murmured. “He’s an amoral thief, but he has his payment. And we shook on it. He honors that.”

  “And this Zayin?” The Samekh’s name brushed warm air over her skin and Chae shivered. Her fingers dug hard into his arms and she pushed back against him. His erection taunted her.

  Chae let out a slow breath. “The Nun-Samekh are one and the same, grown from a single pod. To shake on a deal with one is to trust them all.”

  “Dangerous…”

  Her heart beat hard. She cursed the fact that she couldn’t turn and find his mouth; shock the other passengers by taking him there in the carriage. She opened her eyes and found a cluster of women openly staring. She smirked at them. “And this isn’t?”

  He smiled, the curve of it pressed into her skin. “I suppose I’m a very dangerous man.”

  Her smirk faded and she wanted nothing more than to sink into his touch. The brush of his hair, this warm scent threading through the heavy odors of the carriage, wrapped around her. Living gold pressed through the material of her tunic, stirring the wild fire in her blood. She imagined it against her naked skin and her breath hitched. Shit, they had to stop. She focused on the wide windows, the myriad light patterns of buildings flashing past in blurred streaks and it eased the riot in her body. Chae hated that she had to be the sensible one.

  “Daned.” His name was only a soft whisper. “Our stop is close.”

  His fingers eased away from their hard hold on her hips and she knew he’d pushed back the insanity of the gold. “Ready.” The word burned hard and cold against the shell of her ear, and the shiver that rippled through her was unpleasant.

  Something caught her attention, a movement in the crowded carriage. The rock of the rail, tilting the train over as it shot around the
curve of blurred buildings, exposed something that had her sharpened instincts screaming. A man in the shadows. Staring at her. Not Daned.

  She flicked her gaze to the information streaming over the ceiling. Darkhan Uul flared as the next station stop. One stop short from where they were meeting Zayin at Baruun Urt. Chae kept her face calm, just the slight hint of a smile on her mouth, while foul curses ran through her head. Was she ever going to get off this fucking planet?

  “Stai, Darkhan Uul.”

  The synthesized voice cut through the chatter of the passengers and Chae had an excuse to move away from the hardness of his body. She caught his leash and let the flexible metal bite into her palm. The other passengers watched her lead him to the exit doors as the carriage slowed. The back of her neck itched. She felt exposed, dragging Daned around with her, but this was what they were paying her for. So she had to ignore her natural instincts to slink back against the metal walls. If she kept whoever followed her busy, then the right backside would hit Daned and Govan’s precious throne. And the black crystal was hers.

  She just had to stay alive to enjoy it.

  The sky track jerked to a halt and the doors groaned, pushed out and clunked against the rounded side of the carriage. Night air, cool and thickened with the heavy stink of the industrial city, flowed into the hot compartment. Chae sucked in a quick breath and stepped onto the platform, pulling Daned after her.

  “Lady?” Daned’s soft question pricked her skin.

  “I’ve always liked Darkhan Uul.” The clear arc of the protecting barrier looked out onto the wash of lights from the industrial works, the heavy, toxic discharge coating the air and lying thick and acrid in her mouth. She almost laughed at her own words.

  Chae flicked her gaze back along the platform and Daned’s eyes narrowed briefly. Pools of light crossed the wide ledge, coalescing with the light from the carriages as the sky track sat in the station. The soft glow in the toxic air gleamed over the disembarking workers. “Not much to look at, or breathe in, but they cater to their workers. Some of their pleasure rooms…” She grinned at Daned. “They may even exhaust you, pretty.”

  A muscle jumped in his jaw and her grin deepened. He really hated the name Pretty. But Daned took a step closer and it wasn’t just the acrid air that had her chest tight.

  “I was grown with stamina, lady.” His large hands cupped her shoulders, easing her from the path of the workers who trudged to the lifts.

  The open doors of the carriage gusted warm, sanitized air around her and she found it impossible to look away from him. Engines whined behind her, the carriage lifting as it readied itself to depart. The light gilded his face, dropped gold fire into his eyes and made even the foul air in her lungs bearable.

  “Ready?”

  He whispered the words against her lips, his breath sweet, intoxicating, and she tried to wrap her mind around his plan. Or what she thought was his plan. Shit, why didn’t she have Ladaian telepathy?

  Feet pounded up the hard surface of the platform and the whine of charging guns mixed with the growing rattle and hum of the sky track’s engines. Daned’s fingers flexed and tightened on her shoulders. His mouth hovered over hers, so close she could almost taste him, had to tease his upper lip with her own and urged him to deepen the contact into a kiss.

  “Captain Chae Beyon!”

  Their kiss melted into something more powerful, the burn of need firing through her blood. Any contact with him spun her mind with wild need, and she really needed to lose the gold and get the man properly naked—

  She staggered backward. Doors clunked shut behind Daned. Weapons’ discharge flared against the windows, making passengers shriek and leap from their seats…but the carriage shunted forward, tearing out of Darkhan Uul station.

  Chae let out a slow breath and rested her forehead against the arch of Daned’s throat. Her heart pounded, from being shot at or from his kiss, she wasn’t quite sure. She ran her hands down the strength of his arms, wanting to ground herself but feeling only taut muscle and satin-smooth skin. A dry laugh escaped her. “Think they were jealous, pretty?”

  “Lady?”

  His voice sounded calm, only a hint of curiosity—just as it should. But his heart beat as hard as hers did. “Never mind. Bad idea. Obviously Darkhan Uul has changed since I last took my pleasure there.” She settled into a seat and tugged Daned down with her. It would look strange for them to continue to stand in an almost empty carriage but, hell, she wanted to crane her neck back to stare at the few passengers remaining. She didn’t trust that the suits following weren’t still on the rail.

  She let her head fall against his strong shoulder and her voice dropped to a whisper. “If we ever get off-planet, you know we’ll have to do something about this.” She waved her hand vaguely. “Just warning you.”

  “No.”

  “No to the warning?” She smirked and walked her fingers up his bare thigh, his muscles twitching under her light touch. “You going to surprise me?”

  “I’m not your flesh-pet, Captain. Pleasing you is not my first priority.” He met her gaze and his dark strength peaked her nipples, the burn of gold seeping into her blood. They’d bonded and the tech had plans for them, whether Daned agreed to it or not. “We have a job to do.”

  “And I’ve yet to see payment.”

  Anger flared in his eyes. “You think I should be payment?”

  Chae ignored the sour taste in her mouth. She wanted him…but not like that. He wasn’t simply flesh and she couldn’t explain it to herself. Had it really been that long since she’d had a real human, one born not grown?

  “Stai, Baruun Urt.”

  Thankfully, the sky track’s announcement broke into her need to answer him and herself. She let out a slow breath and removed her hand from his thigh, wiping her fingers against the rough material of her trousers. She checked the seals of her bag, something unconscious and automatic. Food intact. Her fingers flexed. She’d called in her absolute last favor from a vendor touting outside the station. Who knew when she’d next eat?

  “Time to try to get off-planet,” she said. The carriage slowed and she straightened her shoulders. “Second attempt to leave the train, pretty.”

  Chae stood and took his leash, urging Daned to his feet. Her gaze darted around the carriage and found others standing, but none had the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end. She didn’t take comfort in the fact that her instincts weren’t screaming at her. The sky track consisted of fifteen carriages. Suits could be hiding anywhere.

  Juddering to a stop, the carriage flung back its doors and the cool night air of Baruun Urt swept into the space. There was only a hint of Darkhan Uul’s toxic air, the taste of Baruun Urt instead pushing the odor of slick metal to the back of her throat. Sharp light cut across the station and Chae strode down the platform, Daned at her side.

  She wanted to focus on staying alive and her straining nerves encouraged it because, shit, she didn’t want the unexpectedly bitter taste of him being payment in her thoughts.

  “We’re still being followed.” Daned’s whisper burned raw against her ear and she shivered. “One, maybe two.”

  “Chae Beyon!” Her name echoed over the platform.

  “That’d be them,” she muttered as she broke into a run.

  Hot air, thick with the stink of the sky track’s engines, gusted around her legs in a rising gray cloud. With a deafening scrape of metal, the transport shot away from the platform. Weapons’ fire burst against the stones, heat surging over her boot heels. She cursed and willed more speed into her legs.

  “Fucking. Earning. My. Crystals.” She bit out the words as shots hit the floor and flared up sparks from the stones. More shots impacted the arch of the protective barrier, showering her unprotected head with beads of hot rock. “You didn’t say anything about people shooting at me.”

  “Don’t be naïve, Captain.”

  “I would have still liked ‘Hey Chae, people will shoot at you with fucking big-ass gu
ns.’” She swung right, dragging Daned into the bright interior of the first open lift. She slammed the doorplate and pulled out her gun. Her heart beat hard, her breath short and raw. Seconds crawled and she kicked the wall. “Come on!”

  The sudden silence had her backing away from open entrance of the lift. Its shield rolled up, a haze growing over the shadows of the platform.

  “Captain Chae Beyon!” The flash of a muzzle and then a dark-suited man threw himself at the lift. He hit the security screen with a low grunt, cursed and took aim.

  A blaze of white burst over the shield and Chae staggered back, biting back a curse. Heat rushed at her and she fought to breathe. Her knees buckled and her backside hit the metal floor.

  “Captain.” Daned pressed his hand to her shoulder. “Take it slow.”

  “I don’t get shot at anymore,” she said as the lift juddered and started its slow descent. “I get sarcastic customs officers, ones on the take…or the make. But they keep their weapons holstered. Hell, I got used to not having my life threatened. It was nice.” She pushed her spine back up the wall. They weren’t out of trouble. The lift gave them only a few minutes’ breathing space. Her boots creaked and the sliver of black crystal dug into her calf. “Is your black crystal legal? Or is all this just bullshit?”

  “As Govan said, there are a number of warring Families.” Daned threaded his fingers through his dark hair, smoothing it back. He paced the short space of the lift floor. “Our prince is simply one of nine.”

  “And so now Families are wiping each other out?” Chae shook her head. “Never mind. I don’t care. My mother always said the Ladaians were insane. Hidebound and completely crazy. She promised that would not be my fate.” She pressed her finger to her ear, the sharp whine of the activating tech making her wince. Zayin had to be in range. “Can you hear me?”

  “Welcome to Baruun Urt.”

  Chae let out a hot, relieved breath. He sounded exactly like Aleph, and the similarity was strangely comforting. “I’ve brought unwanted friends.”