by Roma, Laurie
****
“Download is complete. They took the bait.”
Archer looked over at Serra as she sat back in her chair with a pleased look on her face. They were in the conference room on the space cruiser taking them to New Vega, having just left the testing site right outside of Light City. The stealth tech had been a wonder to see, and Archer had been filled with pride at witnessing what his woman had created.
After the gala, Archer and Serra had met Jax back at their quarters. The men had interrogated Diane thoroughly, and found that she was nothing more than a silly, sad woman who had used an opportunity presented to her to keep Cade and Andrew all to herself. Shortly after Diane had started seeing them, Tania had contacted her to let her know that she didn’t mind the other woman being with her bonded, as long as Diane did what she could to keep them away from Serra. Since Diane knew that Serra didn’t like her, she’d agreed.
Diane Delacourt’s life was over now, or at least the lavish lifestyle she was used to. She was being kept in custody until the mission was complete, so she’d have no chance to contact Tania to warn her about what was going on. But after this was over, she’d be freed. What she did was petty and malicious, but she hadn’t broken any law. They’d make damn sure she paid for her actions, and Archer had a feeling living in disgrace and being a social pariah would be just as bad as being put in prison.
Moving ahead with the plan, Jax and Archer had accompanied Serra to Light City for the testing of the stealth tech. The tests had gone well, and Serra only had to make a few corrections before she had signed off on the final schematics. When she’d gotten her copy, Serra stored the finalized plans onto a secured data unit she had personally modified for her use, with new security features that practically made it impossible for anyone to even power the damn thing on. She uploaded the altered schematics onto her old unit so whoever had the hidden link on it would be able to access it. She’d attached the track and trace program to the file, and whoever was behind the theft had taken the bait.
Now, it was only a matter of tracking the file to see who the buyer was.
They had a full entourage on this trip, which annoyed Archer despite knowing it was necessary. In addition to their trio, Serra’s fathers, Dom, Arik, Takeshi, Skylar, High Commander Newgate, and Officers Ryans, Meyer and Rhine had come along on for the ride. Archer and Jax had spread the word that they were taking this trip in celebration of him and Jax claiming Serra, but in reality this op would hopefully end the threat against the Alliance and shut down a black market menace that had been plaguing them for months.
Jax, Dom, Andrew, High Commander Newgate and the officers had escaped to the onboard gym to work away the stress of being confined within the cruiser. Jax had always hated being tethered to one place for too long, just as much as he hated the constant barrage of people vying for his attention when they were on duty.
Archer dealt with the monotonous strains of leadership better than Jax, but that was only because he hid his impatience better. The confinement was getting to him as well, and he needed to get the hell out of there for a while, but he had a different kind of workout in mind.
“So, now we wait and see who this fucker sells it to, right?” Skylar asked, ignoring the large D’Aire male staring at her, just as she had been for the last hour or so.
“That’s right.” Serra looked down at her screen again, trying to ignore the building tension in the room. “We just have to wait and see. And I’m trying to get a location for the thief, but their unit is blocked.”
Since they had boarded the cruiser, Serra had sensed something going on between Skylar, Dom and Arik, but she didn’t ask about it. She wasn’t sure she really wanted to know. Dom and Skylar couldn’t seem to have a conversation without sniping at each other, while Arik spent most of his time staring at Skylar in silence.
Serra could tell both men were getting on her friend’s nerves, and she only hoped that Skylar didn’t end up punching the D’Aire ambassador or shocking her director unconscious if he thought to try to add some more sex into his life, like Serra had suggested.
She was glad that Skylar had been assigned as her personal bodyguard for the trip. Her friend had been thrilled by the free trip to New Vega, but sobered when she had been read into the facts of the op they’d put together. Still, with all the men involved, it was nice to have another woman around, even if that woman was more volatile than the rest of them put together.
“It’s a good plan.” Cade patted her arm. “Why don’t you take a break now? We’ve got two more days until we dock on New Vega. You can’t just keep staring at your data screen.”
“Oh, but…”
“Go. I can keep watch and tag you if something happens,” Takeshi said, not bothering to look up from his own screen.
“If you can pull yourself away from Galaxy Invaders,” Cade grumbled.
Takeshi’s shoulders hunched. “This game helps my coordination and its fucking fun, so lay off.”
“Sure…what level are you on?”
“Four eighty six.”
“Bullshit!”
Amused, Skylar watched Cade and Takeshi fight for control of the game. “For god’s sake, put the game on the big screen. I’m gonna go take a nap,” Skylar announced as she stood up. The doors automatically opened as she strode toward them, then closed again after she left.
“She has such pain inside her,” Arik said softly as Takeshi and Cade turned their attention to transferring the game onto the wall screen.
Archer and Serra shared a speaking glance, then they both looked back at Arik. “I don’t think you want to set your sights there, friend,” Archer warned.
“I find her intriguing.”
“Sure you do,” Serra said carefully. “But I’m not sure the interest is reciprocated.”
“Oh, it is,” Arik countered with a slow grin. “She just won’t admit it…yet. She is not an easy woman, but as her keeper, I will help her heal.”
“Well…if that’s your plan, you have a long road ahead of you.”
Arik nodded. “This is true.”
“I wish you luck. On that note, Serra and I are going to take that break,” Archer said as he stood up.
“Yeah, yeah,” Cal muttered as he continued to play the game with Takeshi. “Take your break, but I don’t want to hear about it.”
Archer waited to speak until he was alone with Serra in the corridor outside of the conference room. “I want you to promise me something.”
She looked up at him solemnly. “All right.”
“Promise me that we are never going to travel with your fathers ever again.”
She giggled, then let out a protest when he began pulling her down the hallway. “This isn’t the way to our room.”
“How observant of you. We aren’t going to our room. We’re going to spend a little time in here.” Archer pulled her to a stop in front of the holo room. He pressed a button on the control panel. “Begin Archer, relaxation program alpha one.”
“Program is activated and running.”
The door to the holo room slid opened and they stepped out onto a balcony overlooking a mountain vista with a backdrop of stars shimmering over a midnight sky. A large hot tub was set into the center of the balcony, surrounded by hundreds of candles. Steam rose from the hot water in contrast to the cool night air.
Serra breathed in the sultry fragrance of night jasmine, then turned to smile at him. “This is absolutely perfect.”
“I’m glad you think so. One day I would like to take you somewhere like this for real. Until then, the holo room can take us anywhere we want to go. Come on, hummingbird. Let’s get in.”
They undressed in companionable silence, then sunk into the steaming water with matching groans of delight. “This is perfect,” she repeated on a long sigh.
“Almost…there we are. Now it’s perfect,” Archer said after pulling her into his arms so she relaxed against him.
“I know you and Jax hate being cooped up on
a cruiser, but I don’t mind them anymore. I guess I’m just used to it after all the traveling I’ve done.”
“You know, this wouldn’t be a bad way to spend my time. I thought about just giving up my position to travel with you full time. Sort of like what Jack did when he and Ian claimed Donna. But that wouldn’t be fair to Jax.”
Serra understood completely. “I would never ask for either of you to do that for me.”
“You wouldn’t, but I don’t like the idea of spending long amounts of time away from you.”
“I know.”
“But this is nice. There are so many places I want to go with you. So many experiences I want to share. I always find it sort of strange using the holo rooms. It feels real, even though I know it’s not.”
“I could explain holo tech to you in detail, but I think I’d rather do something else right now…”
Serra turned in his arms, catching his lips with her as she ran her hands up his hard, muscular chest. She loved the feeling of his bare skin, and moved her hand between them, lower until she gripped his erection in the water.
“You’re supposed to be relaxing,” he growled.
“We can relax…after,” she whispered, nipping at his lower lip.
His lips crushed down on hers, voraciously feeding off of her as she met him beat for beat. The heat of lust burned bright as her body trembled against his. She sucked on his tongue as he shoved it into her mouth, driving them both crazy with need.
Her arms wrapped around his neck as he shifted her, rubbing his hard cock against her slick pussy. Jerking her tighter against him, he ground their bodies together. He let out a growl of need, and his large hands gripped her ass as she began rocking her hips against him.
It wasn't enough.
She needed more…so much more.
Reaching between them, she grabbed hold of his thick cock, stroking the hard shaft with her hand. He groaned when she swirled her thumb over the head of his cock, teasing them both.
“Two can play that game.”
In response, she gasped in pleasure as two of his fingers shoved inside her tight hole. “Oh, God! Sully!”
“Do you like that, baby? Do you think that feels as good as your hand wrapped around my cock?”
“Yes,” she moaned, beyond speech now as he thrust inside her. She whimpered as he curled those clever fingers so they hit her G-spot, his thumb rubbing gently over her clit. She began moving her hand up and down his thick cock again as their mouths met in another scorching kiss.
“It’s not enough. Put me inside you, hummingbird. Do it before I lose my mind.”
Holding onto his shaft, she slowly lowered herself onto him. She let out a moan as her head fell back when she was full of his cock. It felt so good, like he was a part of her. Every time he touched her, it was like he was touching her soul.
She starting rocking on him, slowly, feeding the flames of desire between them. She loved when he touched her so tenderly, but there were times—like now—when she wanted to be taken. To be conquered.
When she wanted him to own her.
On her next stroke she paused when she was seated to the hilt. Feeling a little wicked, she smiled. “Perhaps I should just sit here a while. You did say you wanted to relax…right?”
“God damn it, Serra. Don’t fuck with me now. I’m riding the edge.”
She leaned forward so her breath brushed over his lips. “I’d rather you ride me.”
Gasping, she found herself lifted off of him and spun around so she faced the edge of the hot tub. Her hands braced against the wooden slates of the balcony floor as she was bent over. She moaned as he ran his hands over her ass, kneading the smooth flesh, then let out a startled yelp as his hand came down on her ass in a hard slap.
“Tease me, will you? Spread your legs for me. Wider!” He barked out the harsh command. “You want me to ride you? Get ready because you’re gonna get exactly what you asked for.”
She spread her legs further and arched her back a second before he gripped her hips hard and shoved his entire cock into her with one hard thrust. She let out a wild scream as he began fucking her with long, deep strokes.
“Fuck, your pussy feels so damn good. So fucking tight!”
“Fuck me, Sully. Give it to me.”
“You'll get what I give you. All of me, Serra. You have all of me. Can you handle that?” he growled out.
“Everything. You’re everything to me. I love you so much, Sully.”
He pressed his body over her back, pushing her until she was flat against the balcony as he powered into her. His hands reached up, linking with hers. “I love you, Serra” he whispered in her ear. “This is me loving you, baby.”
Archer pounded into her with a fast, punishing rhythm. His thick shaft was squeezed tight each time he pushed back into her. The pleasure was so acute, he could barely breathe, but he couldn’t stop. Wouldn’t stop pushing them toward the ecstasy that awaited them both.
The sound of their flesh slapping and of the water churning around them was an erotic symphony. He gave into the desperate pleasure as she began pushing back on him, driving him further inside of her each time he thrust. Knowing that he couldn’t hold back much longer, he reached between them, rubbing at her clit with the pads of two of his fingers.
“Look at me, Serra,” Archer bit out. He released on of her hands, yanked at her hair back to turn her head so she was looking at him again. "Eyes on me, baby. I need to see you come. I want to see the pleasure take you."
Bright green eyes met his and he fused his mouth to hers, capturing her scream when she shattered. She went wild, bucking beneath him, clenching down so tight on him that he couldn’t move. He let out a feral snarl as he followed her over. Hips jerking as he spilled himself inside her. He buried face into the crook of her neck as he whispered his love for her one last time.
They lay there for long moments, trying to catch their breath. “Was that on your infamous list, my little hummingbird?”
She wheezed out a laugh. “No, but it should have been.”
Archer jerked at the sound of the door to the holo room sliding open, then relaxed again as he saw Jax enter. Frowning at them, Jax braced his hands on his hips.
“Well, hell. You started without me.”
“You snooze, you lose, bro,” Archer said, nuzzling Serra’s throat. “You snooze, you lose.”
“The schematics were just transferred. Takeshi said we should have a location soon.”
“That’s good news.” Serra glanced up, and a slow grin curved her lips as Jax began to undress. “Perhaps we should celebrate.”
“Just what I had in mind…”
***
Chapter Thirteen
New Vega was a floating pleasure palace in space.
On approach, it looked like a large destroyer-class vessel, made of a black metal and dark tinted glass that blended seamlessly into the backdrop of space. The owners of New Vega took the safety of their patrons seriously. No expense had been spared to outfit the ship with defenses, as well as power weapons, making it an almost impenetrable fortress.
But inside, it was a whole different world.
The cruiser docked in one of the landing bays and half of their party left to enter New Vega by a separate entrance that had been arranged with the Krytos owners so anyone watching wouldn’t see them arriving together. Serra, Jax and Archer walked toward the main doors with Skylar, Officers Ryans, Meyer and Rhine following behind them. The large doors leading into New Vega slide open silently, and a barrage of sounds assailed them all at once.
The stark gray of the landing bay gave way to the cream and gold opulent interior of New Vega. Laughter and music drifted through the perfumed air, and Serra paused as two beautiful women with breasts the size of large melons came forward to greet the men.
She had never really given the women who worked on New Vega much thought, but that changed as she saw the double take her men did at seeing the female greeters ample assets on display th
rough their transparent gold sarong dresses. She frowned as the two women practically rubbed up against Jax and Sully as they placed leis of white flowers around their necks. Serra shared a look with Skylar as her friend moved to her side.
“Oh, hell no,” Skylar muttered under her breath. “No wonder men like to come here so often. Are those things even real?”
“I don’t believe that’s anatomically possible.”
Skylar let out a snicker. “Want me to drop those bitches for you?”
Serra considered her friend’s offer for the briefest of moments before shaking her head. “Not worth it.”
“I disagree, but it’s your call,” Skylar groused, then lowered her voice into a purr. “Well, well. Now we’re talking…”
Serra turned her head in the direction Skylar was looking and blinked in surprise as two enormous men walked up to them holding leis made of pale pink flowers. The male greeters had skin tanned a dark, golden-brown, and their bare chests were oiled to a gleaming shine. Both males wore a sarong wrap around their waists, but the cloth was short enough to reveal their muscular thighs.
One of the men stepped forward to place his lei around Skylar’s neck, using it to pull her closer. A sharp bang sounded from above, and Serra looked up to see Dominic and Arik up on one of the balconies, glaring down at Skylar. Serra was about to warn her, but was distracted as the other male greeter moved forward. Before he could touch her, Jax ripped the lei out of the male greeter’s hand and growled, “I don’t fucking think so.”
The lei was unceremoniously shoved over Serra’s head, then Jax pulled her away from the other males. “Hypocrite,” Serra accused softly, but gentled her rebuke with a small smile.
Jax glowered at her. “I’d rather not start our vacation off by killing someone.”
“At least you didn’t break the building.” Serra looked up just in time to watch Dom toss away a broken piece of the railing.
Archer leaned in so his lips were close to her ear. “I wasn’t really looking…I was just trying to figure out how those women were able to stand up straight with those implants. You’d think they’d fall over or something.”