Leaning down, he inhaled her unique scent, intoxicating him far more than the couple of drinks he’d had. He shouldn’t be doing this. His head felt light from the heavy beer and his judgment couldn’t have been sound. Surely if his mind had been clear he’d be telling himself what a bad idea this was, giving himself a list of reasons why he shouldn’t be doing this, most of them starting with Rian.
But it didn’t feel wrong. No. It felt right. More right than anything he could remember feeling in a long time. He ran a hand up and down her back, measuring the curve of her spine, learning the shape of her hip, waist, and right up to her neck under the fall of her thick honey hair. Closing his eyes, his senses took over and his body became hyper-aware.
They moved in perfect sync and fit together in a way that fueled his already over-active imagination. She shifted slightly in his arms and then somehow his hand was in her hair, holding her as his mouth found hers. He tasted traces of the sweet wine she’d been drinking earlier. He had to stop dancing, too lost in the intense pleasure igniting within him, burning upward and outward until he was consumed by the way their mouths fused together.
He dragged her harder against him and over the hammering of the music he heard her moan, sigh his name against his lips as her short fingernails dug into his shoulders. She rubbed herself sensuously against him and the sensation branded him all the way from his thighs up to his chest. It only made him wish for nothing between them, wish he could feel her do the same, skin to naked skin.
Tugging on the knot of silky hair he had in his fist, he tilted her head back and devoured the length of her supple neck. Her fresh rain scent brought on the image of her lying naked in a field of soft grasses and wildflowers, making love to her as a sultry summer rain showered them from above.
He took in a deep breath, chest expanding until it felt like it might explode, as volatile, sensual, consuming passion infused his every cell, suspending him between heaven and hell. There were too many reasons why this moment couldn’t go any further, the most obvious being they were standing in the middle of a dance floor. Someone bumped into him from behind and he lifted his head, half expecting to find Rian there, weapons drawn.
Zahli’s fingers slipped up into his hair, her deep blue eyes almost black, asking him for things he couldn’t give. Her lips were dark pink and her skin slightly abraded from his whiskers. God. He wanted to take her away from here, take her away from it all, where it could just be her and him and nothing in between them. Where there’d be no rules, no complications, and no reason not to love her.
Instead, he let her go and stepped back, trying not to let the disappointment in her gaze stab him in the heart.
“Tannin—”
But he stepped out of range. His resolve had reached the edge of sanity, and he couldn’t let her touch him right now. He didn’t know which would be more selfish—choosing a place in Rian’s crew and his chance at a free life, or choosing Zahli over the man who’d given him his freedom.
“Zahli, you’re important to me, I care—” He stumbled over the word and clenched his fists, swallowing his emotions. “I care about you, but we both know this can never be. I’ll always be a wanted man, and I’ve agreed to help Rian. You know his rules better than I do.”
Her body tensed, anger tightening her features. “I don’t care about Rian’s frecking rules. They can go to hell. Some things are more important.”
A sense of loss, of being trapped, spurred through him and spread in a numbing wave. It brought back the things he’d felt every day living on Erebus, wanting a life he couldn’t have, dreaming of impossible things.
“Rian gave me freedom, gave me back my life. I owe him so much for that, so I’m sorry, Zahli.” It seemed like a stupid thing to say, but he had no other words.
He turned and pushed through the crowded dance floor, not able to look back at her. If he did, the hurt on her face might break the last of his determination.
He headed back for the bar. Another beer seemed like a great idea. And maybe he’d have a few more after that; anything to dull the throb of unsated lust and bitter regret coursing through him.
At the bar, he shouldered his way into a spot to wait for the automated service system. When it came, he looked over the choices, finger hovering over the icon to order a double Scots whiskey, but at the last moment he requested water. Taking his hard drink, he returned to the table and sat next to Jensen, across from Miriella. Up on the large screen, the home team, Yarina Suns, were down ten points to the Jacolby Jets. He stared blankly at the figures moving through the familiar patterns of the football match, a flash of delayed lust jolting through his system. He’d spent twelve years living on a prison planet deprived of a lot, including any kind of intimate relationship. He wasn’t a virgin, but the few times he’d been with women, it had been nothing more than a brief hook-up. He’d never experienced the things Zahli made him feel, hadn’t been prepared for such strong emotion, finding such a natural connection with someone. And for all that, he’d pretty much just blown her off. Not that he really had a choice.
Jensen bought him another beer at half time and tried talking stats with him, but since he’d been on Erebus for so long, he was out of the loop when it came to those sorts of things. Rian and Callan joined them a while later, counting the money they’d won.
Kira and Lianna drifted back to the table as the football game drew to a close, telling Rian that Zahli had stayed on the dance floor.
Tannin looked to where a good number of people still moved in time with the music, but in the shifting lights and bodies, he couldn’t see Zahli anywhere. Did her decision not to come back to the table have anything to do with him, or was that wishful, selfish thinking?
The IWL match ended with booing from surrounding tables, the Suns had gotten smashed by the Jets and the locals weren’t happy.
Rian stood, knocking back the dregs of his beer. “Time to go.”
As everyone started toward the door, Rian caught his eye and nodded at the dance floor. “I’m going to find Zahli.”
Tannin hesitated as Rian walked off. Should he go and wait with the others, or help Rian look for his sister? It’d be quicker if he assisted. Not that speed made any difference, but after the night he’d had, he was looking forward to getting back to the Imojenna and the quiet solitude of his quarters.
He caught up with Rian at the edge of the dancers and looked for Zahli’s familiar figure, spotting her on the far edge talking to another woman and two men, a half-empty glass of bubbling wine in her hand. He tapped Rian’s arm and pointed her out before making his way over.
“Zahli, it’s time to go home,” Rian said as they reached her.
Zahli turned, her movement unsteady and a little off balance. Damn it, how much had she had to drink?
“Rian.” She frowned at her brother and then looked over at him, her scowl turning into an icy glare. “You know what? I don’t want to go back to the ship. I’ve made some friends and we’re having drinks. This is Shae.” She pointed at the woman and then motioned to the men. “And this is Benson and Dane.”
Rian rested a hand on his belt, right where his knife was usually sheathed. “You know the rules, Zahli.”
“Yeah, I know the rules, and I frecking hate them.” She flicked her gaze over him and then drank some more wine. Ouch. Message received.
Her brother reached out and plucked the glass out of her hand.
“Hey! I’m not finished that yet.” She tried to grab it but he tipped the remnants down the chute of a service-bot and then set the glass on the tray as the robot glided away.
“It looks like you’ve had more than enough.”
“I’m sick of you and your—”
“Please, Zahli, let’s go.” Tannin reached out and took her hand, trying to gently pull her away from the other three people.
He’d already been involved in enough scenes tonight and didn’t want to add a drunken argument to his growing list. And by the look on Rian’s face, his pati
ence had started wearing thin. Tannin wouldn’t have been surprised if the captain just picked her up and carried her back to the ship.
Despite wanting to keep his distance from her, he still couldn’t stand the thought of something distressing her.
Zahli wrenched her hand from his grip and pointed a finger at him. “Don’t you please me, Tannin!”
Under other circumstances, he might have found her words amusing. She’d been asking him the exact opposite only an hour or so ago. But Benson and Dane were crowding closer, looking like they wanted to pick a fight. Tannin hadn’t planned on getting into a bar brawl on his first night out with the crew. Of course, he also hadn’t planned on getting drunk or kissing Zahli. Christ, at this point a fight might improve things.
“She’s having fun, why don’t you just leave her alone?” one said. Benson or Dane, it was hard to tell since Zahli hadn’t clarified.
“Because I said its time to leave.” Rian’s posture tensed, the latent air of deadliness around him increasing by the second.
Tannin moved closer to Zahli, catching her attention and ready to whisk her out of harm’s way from either her brother or the two morons behind her. “Zahli, this isn’t going to end pretty and you know it.”
She glanced at Rian, and then over her shoulder at the two men behind her, and her attention seemed to sharpen.
“Fine. Back to the ship we go.” Sighing, she pushed between Rian and him, shoving him square in the middle of the chest with her palm as she passed.
Rian glanced at him in exasperation then gave Benson and Dane a death stare. If they were thinking about picking a fight, they’d have to be brain-dead.
Tannin fell into step behind Rian and Zahli winding their way through the crowd and stopping at the bottom of the stairs as Rian collected his weapons and strapped them back on, keeping hold of Zahli’s and pissing her off even more.
Up on the street, the rest of the crew waited. Callan and Lianna took point as they headed back to the ship.
Tannin shoved his hands into his pockets; it’d gotten a lot colder. As they walked, he noticed Rian glancing backward every now and then. After the fourth time, Tannin paused and waited for him to catch up.
As Rian approached, he flicked open his holster and palmed his pulse pistol. “You know, some people just don’t know how to take a hint.”
Tannin tensed, freezing in place as his lungs stalled. Was Rian finally going to blast him into oblivion? But no, the captain turned and fired two rounds back along the street. The sound of breaking glass tinkled jarringly, echoing off the opposite buildings.
Without an explanation, he sauntered along the path he’d aimed his pulse pistol, keeping his weapon drawn. Callan brushed past, a gun in both hands, but Tannin couldn’t get his feet to work; his system had shut down. His heart hammered like a piston. Christ. Had he actually started thinking Rian wasn’t that demented after all? If the guy didn’t happen to turn around and kill him one day, the captain’s antics would send him into heart-failure. Any second now.
The girls hurried back past him, and he heard Kira muttering, “Now who’s he gone and shot?”
Forcing a deep breath, Tannin got his body cooperating with his mind and strode over to where Rian dragged a man out of a destroyed shop front. Broken glass, bits of paper, and other debris littered the street.
Callan grabbed another man’s shoulder, steering him over to join the guy Rian held. A streetlight caught the men’s faces—the two guys they’d pulled Zahli away from at the bar.
“Mind explaining why you’re following us?” Rian jammed his gun against the neck of the guy he held.
“Her.” The guy Rian held nodded at the priestess. “She’s got a two million hard credit bounty on her head.”
Tannin glanced down at Ella, her expression neither worried nor surprised. Goddamn, he’d be on the verge of a coronary if someone told him there was a bounty out for him with a price tag like that.
Just who in the hell was the priestess, and why was she worth so much?
“So you’re frecking bounty-hunting cocksuckers,” Callan said, jerking the guy he held until the man winced.
“No, we’re UAFA agents.” The guy Rian was holding brought up one hand and made a show of sliding it slowly into his jacket and pulling out his commpad. He tapped his thumb on the screen and a holo-image of his UAFA ident came up.
“Jezus, Rian,” Jensen swore. “Can’t you ask someone their name for once before you go blasting them? I doubt UAFA will look too kindly at you shooting their agents, even if you are a war hero.”
Yeah, the Universal Armed Forces Agency was kind of pedantic when it came to the sanctity of their agents. UAFA were a privately owned military hired out to worlds, systems, or corporations—they had no allegiance, so were often used as an impartial third party during conflicts. They’d made up the ranks for the IPC during the Assimilation Wars, and after the battles finished many soldiers had joined their force, making them almost as powerful, if not more so, than IPC officers.
Rian released the guy with a hard shove, making him stumble. He stepped back, nodding for Callan to let the other agent go as well.
“I didn’t get a chance to introduce myself before.” Rian holstered his gun with unhurried movements. “My name is Rian Sherron, and this is my crew.”
Benson and Dane shared a concerned look between them.
“I’m sure right now you’re remembering every story you’ve ever heard about me. Let me save you the trouble of wondering and tell you they’re all true.” Though he’d put his weapon away, Rian kept his palms on the grips of his gun, the gleam in his gaze nothing short of lethal. “Whoever you think has a bounty on their head here, you’ve got the wrong person. We understand each other?”
The two men nodded, backing up a few steps.
Rian returned the nod seeming satisfied. “Let’s go.”
He turned, leading their party away from the two agents, not even sparing a glance for Ella, though for her part, she still didn’t seem all that concerned.
Tannin sighed as he followed after everyone, his head starting to throb from the heavy beer. Things onboard the Imojenna kept getting more and more complicated.
Chapter Fifteen
Zahli got herself a chilled bottle of water, wondering what in the frecking hell had possessed her to drink so much aerated wine. Of course, the answer to that was simple: he sat at the galley table across from her brother, the two of them apparently getting along like bestest-buddies.
Turning, she held the icy bottle against her flushed face, her head beginning to ache. And she didn’t fail to notice the smug expression Rian sent her way.
With a glare, and what she hoped was a steady gait, she walked over and dropped onto the soft couch against the far wall of the communal room. Next to her, Callan flicked through entertainment stations, stopping on a music one which blasted out some kind of heavy drumming and electric guitar. Fantastic. Just what she needed. On the other end of the couch, Jensen looked up from whatever he was reading on his commpad and yanked the remote out of Callan’s hand to turn the volume down. Thank god.
“It’s only worth listening to if it’s loud.” Callan reached for the remote, but Jensen chucked it over the back of the couch, the small unit making a hollow clunking noise as it landed on the metal grate floor.
“I want to hear what they’re talking about.” Jensen nodded toward the table where Rian and Tannin were seated.
Good. That made two of them.
When they’d arrived back onboard, Lianna had said there was some kind of encoded message waiting for Rian and only a moment after checking his commpad, her brother had told Tannin they needed to talk and led him to the galley.
Now Rian was pouring himself a glass of Violaine while Tanning watched him expectantly. “After you told us how you were convicted, I contacted a friend of mine to check into the Ayden family.” Rian took a gulp of the hard liquor as a surprised look crossed Tannin’s face.
“Why woul
d you do that?”
Rian shrugged one shoulder. “Partly curiosity, partly because I like to know who I’ve got on my ship. Mostly because I was suspicious.”
“Of me?” Tannin’s shoulders tensed.
“No, of the circumstances surrounding your friend’s death and the way you were convicted.”
Zahli sighed. Despite being hurt at the way he’d outright rejected her, the grim set of Tannin’s jaw pinched her insides. She pushed up from the couch and joined the pair at the table, sitting across from Tannin. He looked at her when she dropped into the chair, but she avoided his gaze. The night might have ended unexpectedly, but she was still angry at him.
She’d all but laid her heart out in the open for him and what had he done? Chosen her brother over her and trampled her hopes into the dance floor. They way he’d kissed her, she’d been sure he felt as deeply for her as she did for him. Yet he’d turned around and given her the I care about you, but I don’t want to be with you speech.
Okay, so partly she understood where he might be coming from. Rian had given him his freedom, a home, a place on the crew, and laid out the rules. She got that he might not want to go flouting ship regulations the first rotation on the job. But she meant what she’d said—some things were more important.
Something about Tannin touched her deep inside, somewhere she hadn’t felt before. She’d thought if she explained to Rian that they weren’t just messing around, he might bend the rules just a little.
But then Tannin had gone and blown away her idea. All right, so they hadn’t made a commitment, hadn’t really started anything, but he’d jumped ship at the first sign of trouble, leaving her thinking maybe she’d had the wrong idea about him and his feelings for her.
Rian pushed his hair back and folded his arms along the table edge, beads clinking against the surface. “After you were sentenced to Erebus, your friend Quaine, the one you said was responsible for killing Broc, had a falling out with his father. He was cut off from the family trust fund and left Barasa as well.”
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