Silver Tongued Devils

by Dawn Montgomery

  Na’varr’s cousin and uncle were still tracking him. This was all the proof he needed. Who were they after, though? The pirate Anderson Na’varr or the Andovian blood prince Naesha Varrian? Either way, his leak was among the crew and they were running out of allied support.

  “You wanted to see me, sir?”

  Na’varr looked up to see his stoic navigator waiting patiently. “Mace, look at this.” He gestured for the man to approach before pointing to the Sakura outpost.

  “Our enemies are targeting the places we like to do business. Normally I would look for new haunts, but this place is important. We need supplies we can only get here, but we’ll be going in without the regular logistical support we’re used to.”

  Mace rubbed his stubbled chin with the palm of his hand. The sound of whiskers scraping against skin was the only sound for a minute. His unfocused gaze told Na’varr he was considering their options. The navigator was one of the best and he hated the idea of losing him if he was the traitor.

  “We’ll have to use an out of the way jump point on the border to get to Sakura without drawing attention. If our supply chain is compromised, it’s expected that the ports we bribe will also be so.”

  Na’varr had considered the same thing. He let his navigator continue. Experience told him that Mace had to talk out his thought process.

  His navigator came up to the map and pointed to a gate within a day’s jump from their current location. “I did business with this group for a few years prior to the Crimson Star.” His gaze locked with Na’varr’s. “These Imperials will cut you down and sell you for organ stock the moment you turn your back. They’re corrupt so there’s no guarantee we can make it through.”

  “What will it take to make them work in our favor?”

  “Bribes. Rare things they can’t get from anyone but you.”

  Na’varr braced his palms on the table. He had coffee and information.

  “Find out what they want.” Na’varr held out his hand. “Give me your datapad.” The navigator complied and Na’varr gave him access to the ship’s stockpile. “Find what they need. If we have it, talk to me about it.” The young navigator had negotiated several deals over the years, all of which gave Na’varr a steep profit margin.

  “You’ll have access for an hour so memorize that list.”

  “Yes sir.” Mace seemed to want to say something but he shook it off.

  Na’varr smiled. “Why am I having you do this instead of my logistics officer?”

  “You read my mind, sir.”

  “You know where we’re going and how we’re going to get there. I have told two other people and both of them would die before betraying me, so if they know we’re coming, I have only you to blame.”

  Mace glared at Na’varr. “I won’t betray you or this crew.”

  Na’varr nodded. “Someone close to you might. Keep it quiet.”

  “Sir, we have a problem.” Brom’s private message channel came in over Na’varr’s ear piece.

  “Go ahead.”

  “She needs you. I can’t touch her like this.”

  His gut clenched. Brom’s strained voice told Na’varr he was on the edge. His Second had to be desperate to call and interrupt this meeting. “Got it. I’m on my way. Keep your ass in check this time.”

  “Roger.” The hybrid’s anger came through loud and clear, but Na’varr didn’t care.

  Brom had already lost control once. The sight of Raesa’s blood had chilled Na’varr to the soul.

  He looked up at his navigator. “Get this plot coordinated. Make contact. Don’t mention our ship name and offer a bribe to keep it off the books. I want a full report of what they demand before you agree to it. Understood?”

  “Yes sir.” Mace kept his posture lax, but Na’varr saw the way the young man’s body had tried to snap to attention.

  Former military, maybe? Mace had been a part of Na’varr’s crew for two years and never breathed a word of his previous life.

  “Remember. Tell no one where we’re headed or this time we might all meet our makers.”

  “I give my word.”

  Na’varr nodded and dismissed the man. He rolled up his map and tucked it into the case. It would be with him or Brom at all times. The traitor was making Na’varr doubt every move and motive of his crew and it was pissing him off.

  Raesa needed him. Na’varr stalked through the corridors, ignoring curious glances and murmurs that followed in his wake.

  He felt like the steel jaws of a trap were slamming shut on him and part of it revolved around Raesa. She wore the Isis collar, something given to the bride of the Andovian heir. A lifetime ago he’d been pledged to such a woman on the day of her birth. Styles had raised Raesa like a daughter, but that didn’t mean they were actually blood related. Had he smuggled the toddler out of the palace that night?

  Too many questions and now Styles was dead and the key to her past was tied to the choker on her throat. It held her DNA map and its location in the Andovian Earthen purity database. Something Na’varr’s father had hated about their culture.

  He reached the room and palmed it open. The security lock disengaged and he strode in.

  The sight that greeted him jerked the captain to a stop. Raesa was facing the doorway, naked and standing with Brom at her back. His fingers stroked in and out of her pussy while she made sweet cries of desperation.

  Na’varr’s cock hardened and he eased the buttons free on his shirt, taking his time to savor the heightened blush of lust on her skin, the sweat of their bodies. Brom’s mouth kissed her nape and Na’varr could make out softly spoken words. His friend raised his gaze and Na’varr could see the feral gleam shining back at him.

  The hybrid’s movements were deliberate and soothing while Raesa came undone in his arms. He dropped his shirt over the back of a chair.

  Brom brought his mouth next to her ear and whispered something that caused her eyes to open.

  Na’varr’s cock twitched at the heated lust staring back at him.

  While he and Brom had shared women before, there was usually a complicated emotional tangle of jealousy they had to weave through. Raesa was different. She gave freely in everything they asked, taking ultimate pleasure in their touch. Her sweet voice made the sexiest sounds. She could easily become an addiction.

  Brom withdrew his fingers from her pussy and brought the glistening digits to his mouth.

  Na’varr sat on the arm of a chair and took off his boots, watching their erotic play.

  Raesa nuzzled Brom’s cheek and her tongue flicked against the skin.

  A shudder ran through the hybrid’s body and Na’varr grinned. She knew Brom’s weakness.

  Her attention returned to Na’varr and she walked toward him. He let his gaze wander down her body. Beautiful, full hips and breasts. She reached him and ran her palms up his thighs.

  Brom slipped out of the room, leaving them together.

  “I’m not as insane as I was before.” Her eyes were clear. “It hurts, Na’varr.” She climbed up his body and kissed him.

  Her tongue stroked his. Gone was the hesitancy and its place was a goddess of lust.

  Na’varr couldn’t wait any longer. “I need to be inside you.”

  Raesa unbuttoned his trous and slid his cock free. She palmed his hard length and he groaned. Na’varr fell into the chair and took her with him. He grabbed her hips, encouraging her to move closer. The scent of her lust drove him insane.

  Raesa gripped his cock and rocked her pussy against the head. She sank onto him, dragging moans and pleasure from them both.

  She let him go and leaned forward with her palms on his chest. He let her find her own pace, adjusting their bodies to make it easier. She fucked him as hard as he’d taken her the night before.

  He fisted her hair and brought her mouth to his.

  Na’varr nipped at her lip and suckled her tongue. She tasted sweet. “Ride me, Raesa. Show me how much you want it.”

  She moaned and complied
, tearing her mouth from his and moving her hips to a rhythm he happily met. Her red hair spilled onto his chest and he reached between their bodies to stroke her clit.

  “Na’varr, dammit.”

  “Say it again.” He circled her clit with his thumb and forefinger.

  A throaty laugh slipped from her lips. “Dammit.”

  He growled and arched his hips, meeting her thrust down, impaling her on his hard length. She detonated in his arms. Her pussy milked him and his balls tightened. With a cry of release, he came inside her wet heat.

  She dug her nails into his chest and he gazed at her soft and sated expression, wanting to remember every bit of this moment and how she rode him, wringing out the last bits of pleasure from them both.

  “Come here.” He pulled her into his arms and kissed her forehead. “You’ve bonded, Raesa. The pain will stop soon.”

  She mumbled something against his chest and he moved back a bit to see her face.

  “What?”

  “Who did I bond to?”

  “Both of us, lovely.” He heard her sigh. Was it disappointment? Joy? Brom was better at understanding emotion than he was. He knew women the way Na’varr knew warfare and political intrigue. At that moment he wished he knew the right words to say to make her want to be a part of their lives.

  In a few moments she relaxed completely against him. She fell asleep? He had so many things to do, a ship and crew that needed him, plus a traitor to smoke out. Yet for the first time, he wanted to forget about it and accept this moment.

  “You are so dangerous.” He kissed the top of her head.

  Raesa draped over him, soft and pliable. Sexy and perfect. Not afraid of anything. He tucked loose strands of hair behind her ear and watched her sleep. Raesa’s past was a mystery they needed to solve, but he hesitated to rush it. With everything else going on, it was okay to let this be, for now.

  Brom walked out of the shower room with only a towel on his waist. He snatched up a blanket and brought it to the chair. “Will you stay with her?”

  Na’varr wrapped his arms around her.

  His second in command covered them both and sat on the arm of the chair. “Who is she, and what does that choker signify?”

  “As far as I know, she’s the only daughter of a man who’d served my family loyally his entire life.” He touched the swirl pattern on the Isis collar. “The woman who should wear this supposedly died the night my family was slaughtered. I don’t know how she or her father ended up with it.”

  “It’s convenient that she was taken to the same place we were.”

  Na’varr adjusted the blanket over Raesa’s shoulders. “Tell me what you know.”

  “The unscheduled stop was caused by a failing food stasis unit. Interviews with the cook told me that they went out occasionally, and as a result he was trained to spread the food across several units. Someone had taken all the proteins and put them in the failing unit. He’s since started locking the kitchen and strangely enough, no other issues have been reported.”

  So they had someone on board who set up their landing. For what purpose? “Who went on the supply run when we landed?”

  “I have a list here.”

  “Were any of them kitchen staff?”

  “Only the cook.”

  “Did he see anyone ditch out?”

  “He couldn’t remember since he spent most of that time rushing to refill our food supplies. When he needed arms and hands, they were there. That’s all he remembered.”

  Na’varr sighed. “Someone is feeding our enemies every stop we—” Raesa moaned and he tensed. With gentle strokes of her sleeping body, he soothed her back to a deeper sleep. When she calmed, he continued the conversation. “We haven’t been to Sakura in the past year. Why did they pick that one?”

  “Raesa, maybe?”

  “It’s possible. The star map is by the entry door. I want a list of all personnel who requested leave or participated in our supply restock for every location in the past year. Cross reference those names against the allies we lost. Our traitor is probably newer to the crew.”

  “Like a little over a year old, maybe?”

  “Yeah.”

  “On it.” Brom hesitated.

  Na’varr saw the uncertainty in his friend. “Touch her. She’s yours as much as mine.”

  Brom clenched his jaw and Na’varr let his eyes close. The hybrid touched her hair and bent down to press a light kiss on her head.

  “You’ll be able to kiss her again soon.”

  “Not soon enough.”

  Chapter Six

  Raesa was jerked from a deep sleep by Na’varr’s insistent voice.

  “Raesa.” He shook her gently and she cracked open her eyelids.

  Her entire body ached. “What?”

  “I need you awake. We have a problem.”

  Raesa rubbed at her eyes. Why did it feel like she’d been slammed by a meteor? “What is it?”

  “We’ve been grounded at a border control facility. I need you alert.”

  He took the sheet from her hands and replaced it with a warm beverage. A tentative sip told her it was a hot stim drink. She drained the cup before the bitter after-taste had a chance to do its worst on her tongue.

  Na’varr took the mug from her and handed over a robe. Urgency was apparent in his rigid movements. She shrugged into the cloth and leapt off the bed. “Give me access to your ship’s mainframe.”

  Na’varr caught her before she reached the door and tied her robe shut. He then set her down in a comfortable arm chair.

  “You’re very demanding when you wake up in the morning.”

  Raesa’s heart did a little leap at his tender touch. “You wouldn’t need me if this was a paperwork issue. What are they using to prevent our escape?”

  “A stasis chain. Our systems are dead and any attempts to start them will—”

  “Wreck your ship. Yeah I know. Pretty nasty shit. Get me to your datapad. I need to know what we’re working with.”

  She glanced around. “Where’s Brom?”

  “We have a traitor among us. He’s sniffing out the bastard right now.”

  “They knew we were coming, but why would you be on lockdown?” Surely it wasn’t for a mere runaway slave.

  “Here.” He handed her the datapad and she began running through his security protocols. She recognized the name of their port. Haven Crisis. The armpit of the outer ring. Great. “They haven’t locked down your environment controls, but communications have been cut off.” She chewed on the pad of her thumb and stared at the netlock they’d slapped up. “I have to do it from inside.”

  “Inside their facility?”

  She nodded. “Once I have their main system, I can unlock the stasis chain and we can bail.”

  “You want to walk into an Imperial station, take over their security system, enable a pirate ship to escape and do all this without getting killed or caught?”

  Raesa glanced up and a smile tugged at her lips. “I didn’t say it was a good plan. You told me you needed to break free. Getting me inside is the only way it’s going to happen.”

  “Your plan sucks. Come up with a better one.”

  “Bribery isn’t an option, I take it.”

  “No.”

  “We need to know why they’re holding onto us. Ransom?”

  Na’varr remained silent and she glanced his way. He knew something about why they were stuck, but wouldn’t say it. That just irked the hell out of her.

  “If you’ve got a card up your sleeve, Captain, now is the time to play it.”

  “I can claim diplomatic immunity.”

  Raesa clamped her mouth shut on the immediate question that popped into her mind. Diplomatic immunity for a pirate? What the hell kind of man was Anderson Na’varr? “If you declare it, what happens next?”

  “I can request an escort to the main facility.”

  She sat back in the chair and racked her brain for options. Hours of political asylum laws came back to he
r sluggish mind. “You have diplomatic immunity under what flag of protection?”

  “Andovian.”

  She stared down at the datapad. Andovian? The same bastards who had taken away her life, killed her father. Raesa clenched her jaw and tried to sort through the mix of emotion in her head and heart. Was Na’varr an enemy or a war survivor? Her gut told her the latter. “You’re in hiding.”

  “Yes. There are many people who’d like to take me down.”

  So he was dangerous to current regime, just like her father had been. “Do you have a schematic of this facility? Anyone who can feed me information?”

  “None.”

  “Great.” She considered their options and an inkling of a plan formed. “I remember something about body slaves being able to accompany and Andovian diplomat. Do you have that document somewhere?”

  “I’ll pulse it to you.”

  Na’varr picked up her hair and let it fall gently over her shoulder.

  Warmth fluttered in her stomach. “What are you doing?” She glanced up and saw a strange smile on Na’varr’s face.

  “You have an idea.”

  Her face grew hot. Was he praising her? “That depends on whether Brom can still make someone look like a hybrid.”

  If he was surprised she knew about it, he hid it well. “He can, but why a hybrid?”

  “Haven Crisis is a cesspool of hybrid trafficking. It’s easy to sneak hybrids on and around their station since they’re overlooked.”

  “You sound like you know this place pretty well.”

  She tilted her head. “I know this for the same reason I know what Brom can do with a body etching kit.”

  “I need to know the rights of your body slaves in a diplomatic situation.”

  “You’ll have it by the time Brom comes to you.” He took her hand and guided her out of the armchair. “I have something for you.”

  “What?”

  He brushed his thumb over the curve of her ear and then something cold clamped on the side. Na’varr stepped away and put a hand over his mouth. “Can you hear me?”

  His voice came straight into her ear. She reached up to touch it. An ear cuff?