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Atlantic Bridge
www.atlanticbridge.net
Copyright ©2006 by Alvania Scarborough
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NOTICE: This work is copyrighted. It is licensed only for use by the original purchaser. Making copies of this work or distributing it to any unauthorized person by any means, including without limit email, floppy disk, file transfer, paper print out, or any other method constitutes a violation of International copyright law and subjects the violator to severe fines or imprisonment.
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Published by Liquid Silver Books, Imprint of Atlantic Bridge Publishing, 10509 Sedgegrass Dr, Indianapolis, Indiana. Copyright 2006, Alvania Scarborough. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the authors.
This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents and dialogues in this book are of the author's imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is completely coincidental.
Dedication
To my father who always said ‘dreading is worse than doing’ and my mother who reads everything I write. Thanks so much for your support and love.
Chapter One
"The Void. Ships stray in, never to return,” Riana intoned in a dark, melodramatic voice. “A lot of rot if you ask me,” she snorted. “Rumors, lies and innuendos planted by some unscrupulous trader to keep others out of the area."
"So you keep saying,” her best friend Sharri quipped from the vidscreen. “Well, it's about time you listened to me.” Riana grinned at Sharri as she drummed her fingers on the console and leaned back in her chair.
"Like I listened to you that time we visited the pleasure planet, Oras?"
"Phfff.” Riana dismissed Sharri's question with an airy wave of her hand. “So I made a little miscalculation. We got out of there with no harm done, didn't we?"
"If you call leaving naked, three jumps ahead of one very angry officer, no harm done, then I guess you could say so."
"She had no reason to issue that warrant for my arrest."
Sharri lifted one perfectly arched brow. “You were caught in a compromising position with her favorite lieutenant,” Sharri reminded her. “The woman had her eye on him and you swooped in and stole him from under her very nose."
"He was showing me a hand-to-hand combat technique,” Riana sniffed, her chin raised.
"Uh huh. As I recall, you were touching the lieutenant with more than just your hand."
Riana couldn't keep up the indignant act and started laughing. “You should have seen her face. I don't know which she wanted more, to glare at me or stare at the good Lieutenant's very visible, very fine assets."
"Seriously, Riana, I worry about you. You can't keep hopping from planet to planet searching for some mythical paradise. It's going to land you in serious trouble one day."
"I promise not to go out of my way to look for trouble.” Riana drew an X over her chest and tried for a reassuring smile, but the frown knitting her friend's brow didn't go away.
"The problem is you don't have to look for trouble, it just seems to find you."
"Relax. You worry too much. My gut instinct tells me that this is going to be my most profitable trip yet."
"Your gut instinct is going to get you knee-deep into some major shit."
"Trust me.” Riana tapped a key, ending the communication.
She leaned forward, propping her elbows on the console and stared at the blank vidscreen. Sharri worried too much. Already this trip had been extremely profitable. She had half-a-dozen trade contracts safely stored on data node and several new products residing in the hold. Best of all, she'd managed to trade for a map of the Forbidden Sector, better known as the Void, nearly six weeks ago.
Rumors and legends abounded about the Void. Reputedly, any ship that entered its boundaries never came out. Lost forever. Never to be heard from again. Gone.
Or so they said.
Snakebird pucky. The ships either got caught in the ferocious storms that her sensors could pick up from almost half a parsec away, or found some of the fabled planets hinted at in ancient texts and kept their mouths shut. Planets where treasure was supposed to drip from the trees like drops of rain.
Not that she believed in the tales of treasure.
Exactly.
One had to wonder, though. Riana slid a slender volume bound in real leather towards her. She opened it to the middle, handling the fragile pages with reverence, until she came across the now-familiar intricately-detailed drawing of a dragon, its wings an iridescent wash of color, the body done in faded tones of jewel colors.
She loved old books, the kind you could hold in your hands, could smell the scent of paper and leather, could feel. Riana brushed her finger over the drawing. She still couldn't believe that a map of the Void was in a centuries-old book of erotic romance.
Did Mia Gorganos, a shrewd trader in her own right, have even the slightest idea of what she had sold her?
Somehow, she doubted it.
Riana settled back in her chair, determined that this time she would unlock all of the dragon's secrets. Hours later, just as she was once again ready to admit defeat, one detail on the star map stood out. The same small anomaly she'd stared at a hundred times before. With one finger, she canted the left bottom corner down a fraction.
Her heart began to pound. Unable to believe her eyes, she compared what was on the monitor to the dragon map again. Then a third time. Goddess. If her calculations were correct, she was only two weeks from the nearest planetary system depicted in the illustration.
Riana closed her eyes. She'd done it. She was the first trader in ... Goddess, she didn't know how long ... to successfully navigate the Forbidden Sector. Let Sharri say ‘I told you so’ now.
But, somehow, the victory fell flat.
Riana stretched to ease her aching back muscles and closed the book. Was Sharri right? Was she searching for paradise?
Had she really spent the last ten years going from one planetary system to another searching for something that didn't even exist? Was her restlessness, her inability to stay in one place more than a sennight, her constant yen to find new excitement, nothing more than a convenient excuse to avoid recognizing her discontent?
She tapped her thumbnail on her bottom lip, considering the possibility. Perhaps there was a grain of truth in what Sharri said. Maybe she was looking for something, but she'd be willing to bet her new trade contracts that it wasn't paradise. No, if she were honest with herself, she'd admit she was looking for something much more basic than that.
She was looking for a place to belong.
Riana winced inwardly at her own deliberate blindness. She'd taken great care to hide from the truth. What other explanation could there be? Goddess knew she'd had enough hints. How many times had she fallen asleep and dreamt she was doomed to wander from planet to planet? Oh, she'd managed to tell herself it was just fatigue and then she'd drag Sharri off to some pleasure planet or find a little adventure on her own.
Those dreams weren't the worse, however. Oh, no. The dreams that really unsettled her were the ones where she'd settle down with a man and raise a family. In her dreams he was always the same: blond, tall, and treated her like a queen. In short, the perfect man.
Riana snorted in self-disgust.
Yeah, right. As if a man like that would look at her twice. She could fight like a man, drive a harder bargain than a pleasure planet hostess negotiating price for one of her whores, and had more scars from her ‘little adventures’ than most warriors gained in a lifetime. Still, the question nagged at her.
What would it be like to actually belong somewhere, to someone?
She scowled. The Goddess take Sharri for raising these doubts in the first place.
A shrill alarm jarred Riana out of her uneasy musings. Her ship shuddered. Nearly thrown out of her chair, she desperately reached to disengage the autopilot. Before her fingers could key the command, the gravity cut out and she was thrown violently against the bulkhead.
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"Surrender."
A deep voice murmured the command in Riana's ear as hard hands wrapped leather manacles around her wrists. Groggy, disoriented from the crash of her sleek, small ship, the word was slow to penetrate. When it did, pure instinct took over. Riana slammed her knee upward, catching the man beside her on the side of the head.
He grunted, his fingers slipping from the buckle on the manacle.
Riana scrambled to her feet, ignoring the burning pain in her knee. Swinging her hand in a downward, backhanded fist, she caught the man just below the temple, rocking him back on his heels. Not giving him a chance to recover, she pivoted on one leg, the heel of her other foot aimed with deadly precision for the leather-clad warrior's throat.
She might have succeeded if the ship hadn't shifted without warning.
Riana lost her balance and landed heavily on the floor. The breath knocked out of her, she couldn't summon the necessary strength to fight when he covered her body with his.
The metallic studs on his gauntlet bit painfully into her breastbone and his hand circled her throat, the threat obvious; cooperate or be choked. Long, silky hair, as dark as his expression, brushed her cheek, the side of her neck. His scent, hot, exotic and all male, enveloped her.
Riana shivered.
His forearm slid up slightly. Her breath caught in her throat as her eyes met his. She had just enough time to realize his eyes were the color of antique gold before she felt a round, metallic object just below her ear, a jolt of pain, and then nothing.
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She awoke cold, so cold. Wind whipped by her body, hitting with stunning force between her parted legs.
What the—?
She was naked!
She jerked her wrists up to cover herself. They wouldn't move. Panic clogged her throat and she went lightheaded. That scared her even more. Mustn't panic. She took several deep breaths. Slowly, bits and pieces of the storm, the crash and the huge warrior who demanded her surrender, returned until she remembered everything.
She almost wished she hadn't.
Then she chided her momentary cowardice. She'd been in worse predicaments and survived. Like the time the pirates along the Ivory Lane tried to steal her cargo. Not one item in her hold had been lost. So what if she had a few, alright, several scars as a permanent reminders? She'd won.
Okay, she was tied to an aircycle. A state-of-the-art aircycle. She breathed a tiny sigh of relief. At least she wasn't stranded on some backwater planet without the means to contact Sharri. Even if she couldn't return to her ship right away, she'd have a chance at accessing a comm device.
Her lips thinned.
Damn ion storm. It came from out of nowhere throwing all of Midnight Mischief's systems into overload. Her throat tightened at the thought of her baby damaged, perhaps beyond repair.
No, she mustn't think that way. Escape. Concentrate on escaping.
Riana tilted her head back, trying to find a familiar pattern in the stars. A lump settled into her stomach. Everything looked strange, distorted. Why hadn't she spent more time memorizing the area instead of reading that damn novel over and over and daydreaming about its hero?
So what else? If only her mind wasn't so fuzzy. Her mouth was dry, too. Did she have a concussion? Riana accessed her damage. Outside of a headache, probably the result of the second knock on her head, she had none of the other signs of a serious head wound. That meant the effects of the crash were only temporary.
She shut out the pounding in her head and glanced at her surroundings. Riana had the impression of trees flying by, but it was so dark she couldn't make out any distinct details. There was a minute change in the aircycle's inclination. Someone not intimately attuned to a ship's roll would have never noticed.
Riana noticed.
The ‘cycle leveled out and stayed that way. Instead of the darker shadows of trees, there was a sense of openness. Desert or Plains, she thought, and closed her eyes. Only to have them fly open.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?” she choked out, only to have the force of her rage ruined by chattering teeth. “Let me go!” She tugged at her bonds, but this time her captor had taken more care in securing her. Not only were her ankles bound to the ‘cycle's struts, but her arms were pulled back and fastened behind her captor's hips, snugging her in tight against the vee of his thighs.
"Do not take that tone with me or Punishment will be much worse."
"Punishment? What punishment? I haven't done anything wrong,” she hissed, twisting her wrists even though she knew she couldn't get free. Goddess Zaida save her, she'd fallen into the hands of a barbarian.
Think, Riana. Think!
"Since you are an offworlder, I will explain this one time. You broke a Rule, therefore you must be Punished."
"What rule? Damn you, make sense!"
"You tried to escape."
His voice, dark, rich as chocolate, made her think of warm beds and hot sex.
Goddess, she had lost her mind. That was it. She'd been knocked senseless from the rough landing and was dreaming all this. Her teeth slammed down on the tip of her tongue as the ‘cycle hit a pocket of air. Pain, sharp and immediate, made it clear this was no nightmare.
"You're kidding, right? Tell me you're kidding. Of course I tried to escape. I woke to you shackling me. What did you expect?” she demanded, as it sank in her captor was serious. She tried to twist so she could see his face, but he moved his chin from the top of her head and rested it on her shoulder, preventing her.
"You must learn such actions are unacceptable.” His lips tickled her ear, but it was the calm, even tones that riveted Riana's attention.
One, large hand left the handlebars.
Riana tensed.
He toggled a switched on the dashboard, putting the ‘cycle on autopilot.
Riana couldn't tear her gaze from his leather-clad hands, watching them the way a trapped gizal watched a water serpent.
Both hands now free, he removed the black leather glove from his left hand, and then his right, the action slow and deliberate. On the back of his right hand a ragged scar started at his middle knuckle and snaked its way past his wrist to half-way up his arm.
Fear chased up her spine.
His hand bumped her bound wrists as he tucked the gloves into his belt.
One large hand came around to cup her right breast, the heat from his callused palm after the cold wind was exquisitely painful.
She bit back a moan. “Don't."
His thumb and forefinger pinched her nipple.
Riana gave a startled yelp and tried to lean away from his touch. He hadn't really hurt her, but the threat of pain was just below the surface.
His touch eased and he rotated her nipple, pinching and pulling at her sensitive flesh. He covered the distended nipple with his palm until her flesh heated, creating an oasis of warmth from the cold. His left hand cradled her other breast, mirroring the erotic action of his right hand.
Riana felt her breath quicken. Shivits, she was beginning to respond. She straightened her spine with a snap and tried to scoot backwards. All she succeeded in doing was lodging herself more intimately into the vee of his spread thighs. She shot forward again. Captive, unable to evade his touch, Riana waited for his next move, her heart beating in a harsh, staccato rhythm.
Her captor removed his right hand from her breast, only to return almost at once. He circled her nipple with his wet forefinger.
A muffled cry of protest slipped past her hard won control. The bastard had wet his finger. The cold
air rushed over the now wet flesh causing her nipple to pucker painfully.
"No,” she moaned, wriggling desperately against the icy chill.
He removed his left hand and treated that breast to the same sensual torment.
Riana tried to brace herself, but it was useless. A half sob escaped her clenched teeth.
He smoothed his palms down her ribs, outlining each ridge with a delicate precision. He paused half way down her side, then retraced his path.
Chills chased over her skin as the rough tips of his fingers explored a scar—a savage reminder of a run-in with a Delvidian snakebird—with surprising delicateness. The slow seduction after the pain was enough to begin to drive her from her mind.
His hand began moving again, lower, lower, until he grazed her stomach with a light touch.
The nerves beneath his palms fluttered, setting off sparks that went straight to her core, and to her horror, she felt her sex grow wet with desire.
She squeezed her eyes shut. Don't think about what he's doing to you, she mentally chanted over and over, only to be distracted by a heated moan. The betraying sound had come from her lips. Focus, Riana. Focus on what you're going to do to him once you get your freedom.
She'd kill him. A slow and horrible death. She savored the thought of taking her time, enjoying each second of his demise. Maybe she'd feed him to a snakebird when she was done.
He slowly, erotically, separated the swollen petals of her labia, shattering her concentration. The cold wind became an icy whip that flicked her clit to greater arousal. Her lower body became a study in heat and cold.
Goddess, she was going to die from the pleasure.
The wetness between her legs became a flood. She lifted her hips, frustrated to the point of screaming when she discovered she was too tightly bound to move far enough to brush her throbbing clit against his teasing fingers. “Oh, Goddess, help me,” she moaned as a relentless tide of desire rushed over her.
His roughened fingertips moved a fraction of a centimeter closer to her clit.
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