“Yes!” Thea bucked against him, drenched in sweat.
“That’s it, my sweet, you fuck me.”
She rocked against him in a wild frenzy, creaming him with stuttering climaxes while he whispered how hot she was, how perverse, dotted with words of praise and affection. The combination set her blood on fire. She panted hard as the mother of all climaxes gathered in her belly. She gripped the bed pad and prepared to explode.
Suddenly Blade withdrew.
“Oh my God! NO!” Her body rocked in frustration. She reached back to pleasure herself, but Blade caught her wrist.
“Will you promise to stay with me?”
“Yes!”
“Why?”
She hesitated for a fraction of a second. “I need you.”
“Because?”
Thea hung her head. “Because I’m lost without you.”
Blade’s hand brushed over her buttocks. “Will you obey me?”
“Blade! Stop talking!”
“Will you --”
“Yes! You wanted me to promise, I did. So stick your cock in me now, damn you!” She bucked against his groin.
He laughed and plunged back into her warmth.
“Oh, yes!” Thea’s back arched with pleasure, her senses in overload, her limbs shaking as she came and came and came.
Blade filled her in one gushing release.
The last thing she remembered before she collapsed was Blade whispering, “I’m lost without you too.”
* * *
Thea opened her gritty eyes, her head pounding, clawing her way out of a deep sleep. Her body felt limp. She closed her eyes again.
“Wake up, Thea.”
Blade. She melted at his voice. He’d taken her over and over and Thea had let him, savoring each moment he clutched her against his body.
He pressed a cup of water to her lips and she gulped noisily. “You smell like lust.”
“Tired,” she mumbled.
He laughed as his hands patted her ass. Thea’s heart skipped a beat, an instinctive reaction to his touch. “Good. You won’t be so inclined to run.” He rolled her onto her back and smoothed her damp hair from her face.
Artificial light filled the room. Thea flung an arm over her face.
“Low light.” The lights dimmed and Blade lifted her arm away, kissing her closed eyelids. His hands soothed her arms to her sides and pressed her wrists gently into the mattress. He kissed her lips so very softly, Thea held her breath and lay perfectly still. His tongue traced her jaw line, and then his mouth suckled her sensitive neck.
Goosebumps popped on her arms and quivers of delight rolled over her shoulders. She stifled a moan, but he heard it, and she felt his smile against her skin. He released her wrists and covered her peaking nipples with his warm palms.
“Tell me what you want, Thea.”
“I don’t want. I’m too tired.” She gasped as his fingers trailed along her wet folds.
“Don’t lie to me.” He circled the hard bead of her clit and she arched above the bed with an exclamation. “Show me you want me.”
Her buttocks settled back down on the sheets and she obligingly spread her legs for him.
“That’s my woman.” He scooped her legs up over his arms and plunged into her soaked pussy. Thea lifted her hips meeting each thrust, instantly on fire.
The second she began climaxing, Blade leaned down and sucked on her neck, knowing it drove her wild, and grunted his release deep into her womb. She continued throbbing around his sex as he lowered her legs.
“Don’t leave yet,” she pleaded.
He withdrew and kissed her tenderly. “That was just a quickie. It will help to hold me over till later. I need to check on the Decree, sweetheart.”
Thea dragged the sheet across her abdomen. “Okay. I do understand, but we could cuddle for a minute?” Crap, she hoped that didn’t sound like she was whining.
Much to her surprise, Blade flung his heavy body onto the bed and snuggled for another hour. Just as Thea drifted off to sleep again, Blade pushed up on one elbow.
“I have to go, Thea. I may be back late, but I’ll be back. Wait for me.”
“Would it be so difficult to ask?”
He snarled playfully and nipped her ear. “I never want to hear ‘no’ from your lips.”
Thea smiled, running her fingertips over his chest outlining the tattoo of the blade plunged into a diamond. “Coward.”
“Perhaps when it comes to you, I am.” Blade sprang off the bed and jumped into the chemical shower.
Mmm. Thea rolled over for a better view of his rippling muscles as he moved beneath the spray. His return couldn’t come soon enough for her.
By midnight, she’d drifted off in an exhausted slumber.
The strong smell of liquor woke her in the middle of the night. A large hand covered her mouth. Disgusted by his drunkenness, Thea tossed her head and nipped his palm. He yelped and jerked his hand away.
Thea’s heart pumped wildly when she stared into a stranger’s face.
When she opened her mouth to scream, the man punched her in the head. Bright pinpoints of light marred her vision. The man stuffed a ball gag in her mouth, snapping the elastic band behind her head.
“I wish I had the time to fuck you, slut.” His beefy hands roamed over her silk nightie, squeezing and pressing her flesh. Thea kicked at him. He laughed as he caught her legs and spread them wide.
Thea bucked in panic. He pressed his weight full length on her, securing her to the mattress while he bound her hands. She swung at him, using her locked hands as a club, but the hit didn’t faze him. He caught her fists and tucked them between their bodies. He grinned at her useless struggles.
“I see why the magistrate wants you so badly,” he chortled.
Thea stilled at his words. Had Blade sent him?
He humped her groin and pressed his foul mouth against her lips. “Maybe I’ll trade my payment for a fuck.”
Thea jerked to the side. With a grunt, the man climbed off her, expertly bound her ankles together, scooped her up, and tossed her over his shoulder. “But I got to deliver you first.”
Upside down and in the dark, her head pounding, she couldn’t tell one spaceship from another. She’d been taken directly to a small cabin. They’d removed the ball gag from her mouth, but left her hands and feet bound. Her head hurt where the brute had hit her. The smell of incense churned her stomach. It wasn’t long before her captor visited her.
Thea had never seen him before. “Who are you?”
He gave her a mocking bow. “Captain Pickford, Magistrate of Jupiter Sector Five, at your service.” His hand gripped the knob of a sharp ice pick hanging from his belt. “And your compliance, or lack thereof, will determine how often I use my favorite weapon on you.”
Chapter Seven
“I belong to Magistrate Kevlar.” Not long ago, those words would have made Thea choke. Now, they sounded comforting.
Pickford cast a leering gaze from head to toe and grinned. The sheer nightie hid little, however, exposure was the least of her worries. Thea didn’t even blush. Still, the malevolence in Captain Pickford’s eyes scared her. “Kevlar and I have a long acquaintance. What he has, I want.”
Great. She was caught in a power struggle between magistrates. Thea raised her chin. “You’re too late. Kevlar no longer wants me.”
Pickford laughed in her face.
“You didn’t find him in my bed, did you?”
The magistrate swept her hair away from her neck. “He’s marked you.”
Thea twisted her head away, hiding the flare of excitement in her eyes at his words. She couldn’t afford to think about any romantic notions and Blade now. The captain must be convinced she was a worthless trophy. “Blade bruises my neck as punishment, not as a sign of affection. I attempted to escape him.”
“So I’ve heard. Not smart. Kevlar’s touchy about runaways.” Pickford sniggered. “Seems he can’t control his women. Not to worry though. Blade’s
gotten word on his lost sister’s whereabouts again, thanks to me. Although I’m not certain how accurate my information is,” he said slyly. “And now he’ll search for you too.”
“Don’t hold your breath.”
Pickford snorted. “Kevlar will be chasing false plasma streams all over the universe, one unauthorized mission after another. The law council will ground him.”
Thea mused at the man’s stupidity. “Blade will kill you when he finds out you have been misleading him about his sister. That’s despicable.”
Pickford threw his head back and laughed. “Women!” He sobered suddenly and leaned close to her face. “His pride won’t let him let you go. He’s been searching for his wayward sister for ten moon cycles. If he thinks you’ve run into my arms too, it will drive him insane.”
Did Zara run to Pickford?
Thea sucked in her breath when the sharp point of the magistrate’s pick ripped her nightgown from her shoulders.
“Oh, what a nice surprise.” Gripping her secured arm tightly, he slid his cylindrical ice pick through the nipple ring until its diameter caught. Thea held her breath. Slowly he pulled, elongating her nipple.
Harsh commands and scampering feet resounded outside the corridor.
“Captain!” a voice shouted over the room’s intercom. “We’ve secured an intruder. It’s Magistrate Kevlar!”
“Hmm. He’s quicker than I anticipated.” Sliding a lever on his sleeve, the captain responded. “Bring him to my quarters.”
Pickford spun Thea in front of him. Bruising her upper arm in his tight grip, he tugged his pick mercilessly from her nipple ring, pointing the sharp tip at the erratic vein on her neck. “If you want to live, you’ll cooperate.”
Two guards accompanied Blade, who was bare-chested, looking scrumptiously vicious, into the room. Thea noted the slight hesitation in his step when he saw her bound and naked in his enemy’s hands. Blood trickled from his split lip but otherwise, he appeared unharmed.
“Magistrate Kevlar. You’ve interrupted my interrogation.” Captain Pickford released Thea’s arm and fondled her breast, twisting her nipple ring cruelly.
Blade’s eyes narrowed into angry slits and Thea jumped in before he said something stupid. “I told you he’s not interested in me!”
“Is that so?” The junior magistrate smirked at Blade. “Then he wouldn’t mind if you gave me a blowjob while he and I discussed business?”
“It wouldn’t make a difference,” Thea replied for Blade, staring hard at her lover.
“What if I slowly kill you before his eyes?”
“Let her go,” Blade demanded.
“I’ll be happy to trade her for a batch of whores from twentieth century Earth, and the return of Desiree.”
Blade cocked his head. “Who’s Desiree? The redhead who stowed away on the Decree? I’m afraid you’ll have to take that up with Atlas. He’s become… attached.”
Pickford snarled. “I’d rethink the offer, if I were you.” A burning stripe followed the tip of his pick from Thea’s neck to shoulder. Thea knew without looking he’d drawn blood. “I’m really tempted to compare a blowjob from your woman to the one your sister gave me.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” The steel in Blade’s voice chilled Thea to the bone.
“Zara. I stole her right from under your nose, just like this whore.”
Thea growled.
Blade lurched forward, but the two guards yanked him back, zapping him in the shoulder with a thing that looked like a taser. He grunted but continued to pull against the guards’ hold. “You slime! What did you do with Zara?”
“Sold her, of course. Last I heard, she was spreading her ass cheeks for a Tuberian slave runner.”
The roar filling the room gave Thea the chance she’d been waiting for. She twisted to face her captor and slammed the heel of her hand against Pickford’s nose. He stumbled back, bleeding, slashing the ice pick across her arm, but she ignored the pain to double fist him across the temple.
Pickford doubled over, gasping for breath.
Thea looped her bound arms over his neck and jerked back in a savage chokehold. “No one calls me a whore.” The ice pick clattered to the floor as the captain grabbed the wrists binding his neck.
The two guards standing on either side of Blade were so dumbfounded, Blade’s backhanded dual punch caught them off guard. An elbow into their guts bent them double and Blade crushed their skulls together. They crumbled like marble pillars.
Blade collected the guards’ weapons and rushed to Thea’s side, where Pickford struggled against Thea’s hold. The captain flipped her over his back and her flying feet caught Blade in the chest, knocking him back a few steps. Thea landed with a hard thump.
Groaning for her bruised tailbone, Thea rolled toward the ice pick on the floor. Pickford dove to stop her. Blade reached out and zapped Pickford in the thigh. In the ensuing tangle of limbs, Thea wrestled the captain for his weapon. Blade joined the fray, twisting back Pickford’s arm and zapping his neck. The captain loosened his hold and Thea swung the pick, catching the magistrate in the crotch.
Pickford screamed in agony. Rolling on the floor, hands clamped around his penis, his body convulsed. His teeth chattered. “Medic!” he screamed.
Blade shook his head. “Ouch.” He regarded Thea with respect and amusement.
“Bastard. That was for Zara.”
Blade grinned. His gaze roamed over her wounds. “Are you all right?” He slid a small knife from his boot and cut her bonds.
“Yeah. Nothing more than a few scratches.”
Blade gave her a dubious look, then wrapped an arm around Thea’s waist and lifted her to her feet. “Let’s get out of here.”
The panel door crashed in. Blade swung Thea behind him and aimed the guard’s laser at their assailant.
Atlas filled the space. “Ship is secure, sir.” The taut muscles in Blade’s back relaxed. “The stolen goods are being offloaded now.”
“Well done, Atlas.” Blade pointed to Pickford with the laser’s muzzle. “Take the magistrate to the brig and see he gets a med scan -- eventually.”
“Aye, sir.”
Thea peeked around Blade’s broad back. “Stolen goods?”
“I’ll explain in private.” He scooped her up into his arms, hiding her nakedness as much as he could, and carried her back to his ship.
Inside his quarters, Blade tucked a thermal sheet around her body and sat her on his bed pad. “You okay? I wanted to kill Pickford with my bare hands.”
Thea nodded. Blade swabbed the cuts on her neck and arm with a cool liquid he’d taken from an inset cabinet in his quarters. The stings eased instantly. “All in a day’s work, Blade.”
Blade didn’t smile at her light-hearted remark. After tossing the used med supplies, he poured a deep red liquid into a tube and handed it to her. “Earth wine. Late nineteenth century French.”
The bold smooth taste relaxed her, clearly Blade’s intention. He paced a few feet away. “Pickford has been stealing mining supplies and selling them on other mining colonies. Atlas’s new friend tipped us off. It seems Pickford’s been selling his female cargo too.” Blade ran a hand over his pale face. “All this time, I’d hoped Zara had chosen prostitution out of spite for me, not because it was forced on her. I’ve followed her trail to places so sordid… I don’t want to think about them.” His Adam’s apple bobbed.
“Can you believe Pickford? He told me he’d been leading you on a wild goose chase. He’s trying to get you fired, demoted or whatever, for misappropriation of your time and council resources.”
“Pickford’s an idiot. I’m not tracking Zara by rumor alone. I’m using a DNA tracer. It works like a bloodhound. Instead of scent, it follows DNA residue.” Blade stilled, looking a bit embarrassed. “Most of my pay goes for techno-gadgets like that. The law council receives the rest as recompense for fuel and supplies. As a matter of record, the Grand Councilman offered me the Magistrate of Colonization job s
o I had latitude in my search for Zara. Everything’s on the up and up, Thea.”
Thea smiled. “Glad to hear it, Magistrate, because I’m a stickler for the law.”
“Hmm.” He cast his gaze at the floor.
Thea finished the wine. “How did you find me?”
“Pickford wanted me to find you. Probably not as fast as I did, but he underestimated me.”
“He wanted you flying without authorization so he could negotiate.”
“Aye.” Blade looked like he might say more; instead he drew a deep breath.
Thea stood up quickly, the sheet falling off her shoulders. “What’s bothering you?”
“I’m impressed with your fighting skills.” He wouldn’t look at her.
“But…” At his continued silence, Thea stepped closer. “Please, Blade. Don’t shut me out now. I --” I love you.
He ground his teeth, looking everywhere but at Thea, pacing like a caged lion. Blade jumped when she touched his back, halting his stride. She smoothed her palm up to his shoulder, gently turning him toward her.
“Tell me.”
“The resolve I saw in your eyes terrified me. You didn’t flinch when he cut you. You would have done anything Pickford wanted in order to gain the upper hand.”
“Yes. Probably.”
“Like you used sex to get my mini-laser?”
Thea winced. “Hell, no. Not the same thing, Blade. I could’ve grabbed your mini-laser long before I did. But I wanted you first. Unlike Pickford,” she said adamantly. “Everything about Pickford made me gag, whereas…” Thea ran her hand over Blade’s chest. “Everything about you makes my knees weak.”
His stomach sucked in when she circled his belly button. She leaned an ear against his beating heart. “Your smell, your texture…” She flicked her tongue at his flat nipple. “Your taste.”
Blade stood perfectly still, letting her explore.
Her hand drifted lower, releasing the tie on his pants so they draped open at the crotch. She delved into the loose fabric and gently cupped his balls. The soft intake of his breath and swelling cock spurred her on.
Bonds of Justice: Blade’s Decree Page 7