“Pickford is a sadist. He has no idea what pleasure is, Blade. Do you want me to show you?”
His body tensed. “Now? Gods, Thea, I’m not asking for it.”
“But I want to… I want to please you, Blade. Let me enjoy you.” Thea kissed her way down his muscle-packed torso, sinking to her knees. “All that adrenaline and we’re all alone and…” She pressed kisses along his abdomen and slipped his pants off his hips. His cock shifted upward, displaying the tattooed knife along its length. “Oh, Blade,” Thea sighed. “This tattoo makes my heart race.”
Blade grunted ambiguously.
Starting at the base of his distended cock, Thea licked slowly from the hilt to the point of the tattooed blade. “Why did you get it?” she murmured against his skin.
Blade drew a deep breath. “My first mercenary job, I raided a Gatoric ship and was captured. The crew mocked my youthful daring. In exchange for my freedom, I challenged them to test my courage.”
“Whoa.” She whirled her tongue around the head, then eased away and looked up at him. “They picked the method. You picked the symbol of your name?”
He gave her a lopsided grin. “I wasn’t going prove my manhood with a tattoo of hearts and flowers.”
A smile tugged at Thea’s mouth. “I like your choice.” Slowly she devoured his length.
“They did a good job. It was a fair trade… mmm.”
Blade’s cock swelled in her mouth, thicker, longer, until Thea wasn’t sure she could contain it all. When it became too much, she backed off, wrapped one hand firmly around the base, and sucked the head before swallowing the tattooed cock again.
“Thea…” Shaking fingers scraped her scalp.
“Hmm?” She lifted her gaze to his flushed face, picking up her pace, slurping his penis in and out of her mouth, teasing the slit at his cock head with her tongue. Then she suckled him deeply into her mouth.
“Oh, fuck…”
His thighs trembled and he began pumping, gently at first, then more frantically. “Mmm. Take all of me, love. More.”
Thea eased his length deeper into her mouth, swirling and sucking with her tongue while one finger probed between his muscular cheeks. And then she pressed.
He bucked wildly when her other hand caressed his balls. “I’m going to come. Ah, Thea, stop!”
Thea held him tight, swiped again with her tongue. A second later, warm salty cream coated her mouth. His hands caressed her head, pushing her hair out of her face.
“Oh, sweetheart.” Blade hooked his hands beneath her armpits, tugged Thea to her feet, and kissed her hard.
Thea melted against him, feeling as though she’d come home.
Several hours later, having worn themselves out making love, Blade pulled her exhausted body close to his and kissed her nose. “What am I going to do with you?”
Here it comes. The kiss-off. “I think you’ve done it all,” she said lightly, gathering a protective shell around her heart.
He squeezed her playfully. “I promise to take care of Joe Fowler. I’m not doing it without you. But Zara…”
Thea put a finger over his lips. “Hey, you’re using time travel, right? We can get Fowler when we’re ready. Go find Zara. She may be in more trouble than you thought.”
Relief flooded his expression. “The search might take a while.” Blade looked at her long and hard, and his lips pulled into a frown. “I don’t like leaving you behind, Thea, but I’m afraid to take you with me. Slave traders are a mean lot. As tough as you are, you’re not equipped to handle them yet. There’s so much for you to learn about our worlds.”
Thea shrugged, her heart breaking. She wasn’t going to beg. “Go.”
Blade gathered her hand in his and rubbed his thumb over the back. Damn, the big lug looked worried. “Will you leave Callisto as soon as I’m out of sight?”
“Probably.”
“Oh.”
“I hear there’s a nice house waiting for me on Rondus. Steele told me there’s a state-of-the-art law enforcement training center there too.”
Grinning broadly, Blade gathered her into his arms, hugging so hard he bruised her ribs. “It’s not fair to ask you to wait, but Thea…”
Thea didn’t need to hear the words to know how he felt. “Send messages when you can, okay?”
“I can’t guarantee much communication. Distance, solar flares, time travel.”
Thea shrugged. Men. “Okay. I’ll send messages to you.” No way was she going to call them love notes.
Blade beamed at her, cupping her face. “You do that, honey.” He rolled on top of her, kissing her deeply, his erection cradled between her thighs.
Epilogue
Six moon cycles later
Thea held the laser cannon against her shoulder and waited. The target, a Tuberian slave runner, raced across the street dodging fire from Rondus Enforcers. He dropped behind an old Trover link and Thea flipped up the scope. “Gotcha!” She squeezed the trigger and a thick laser beam penetrated the Trover, knocking the bastard unconscious. Thea whooped. “Oh, yeah. I love technology!”
The lights in the training arcade came up and score points cycled on the overhead board. Thea had bested her partner again. “Maybe next time, Cavland.”
Her partner shook her pretty head. “They’re going to throw me off the force if I don’t beat you at least once.”
Thea wiped her sweaty hands on her stretch suit. “Nah. You’re the best telepath we have.”
Cavland smacked Thea’s hand in friendship.
The intercom light snapped on. “Stone to the com room, stat.”
“Crap, it was supposed to be my night off.” She quickly put away the arcade weapons and reported to the dispatcher, Stella, a computer with no compassion for overworked, underpaid law enforcers.
The airlock slid open. “What is it this time, Stella?” She froze in mid-stride and almost tripped over her own feet.
“Hello, Thea.”
“Solarian Judge Kevlar is here to see you,” the computer stated.
God, he looked good. She wanted to jump into his massive arms, but the haunted look in his eyes froze her in place. “Solarian Judge, huh? I hadn’t heard.” Shit. Thea hadn’t heard from him at all. The only positive slant, if one could call it that, was Steele hadn’t heard from him either.
“Shutting down Captain Pickford’s smuggling operation won me a promotion. They call him Bent Pick now, by the way.” He grimaced. Thea bit back a smile. He smiled back -- barely.
“Still searching for Zara?”
Blade looked over her head and nodded. “Aye.” His gaze cut back to her.
God, he looked uncomfortable. A lump formed in her throat. “So… why are you here?”
“I’ve heard good reports about your enforcer missions.”
Damn. Her hands were sweaty again. “Keeping tabs, Blade?”
“Aye.” His gaze roamed over her body. “I’ve come to offer you a position.”
“Under you?”
He smiled. “Under me, on top, bent over Stella’s desk, whatever works for you.” Her jaw tightened and he jumped back in. “I miss you, Thea. Your fire, your smile, all of you. I’m going crazy without you.” He punched a fist into his palm. “Damn it! I’m trying to tell you I love you. Since the day I met you, you have been the only woman for me. I can’t get you out of my mind or my heart and I don’t want to.”
Thea looked at him skeptically.
His knuckles whitened over his fist. “Thea, come with me. Please.”
Thea toyed with the tab closure at the top of her body suit. The man was actually begging her. Of course, Blade wouldn’t see it that way. “Will I have to sign a service contract?”
His eyes twinkled. “Aye.”
“Hmm. This feels like a set-up to me. What is the length of this contract?”
“Forever.”
Thea arched a brow. “We’ll recover Zara, Blade. Then what?”
“Then you can resume your enforcer duties, if that’s what
you want. Wherever you settle, I’ll open a judicial office. I’m not letting you go, Thea.”
“That sounds nice, Blade.” A small smile blossomed on her face.
“So you’ll join me?”
“Yes.”
Blade dove, crushing her in his embrace, kissing her madly. Thea gasped, loving him back heart and soul.
His kiss mellowed and he lifted his lips a fraction. “I love you, Thea.”
Thea sighed in contentment. “I love you too.”
Holding her at arm’s length, he looked into her eyes. “I hear there’s a Tuberian slave ship making runs on Earth at fifty-year increments. I also know a certain Rondus Enforcer has some unfinished business in the twenty-first century. Care to check it out with me?”
“Love to. I do have other unfinished business though. Right here, right now.” Thea peeled open her stretch suit. “Do I have permission to complete this assignment before we go, sir?”
“You do realize you’re in the com room with a Solarian Judge.”
“So sue me.” She slipped a hand beneath his waistband, gripped his cock, and stroked him. “Here’s your first payment.”
Blade grunted. “Stella, seal the door.” He pressed Thea up against the wall, kissed her face, and worked his way down her neck to her shoulders and then her breasts, punctuating each kiss with a declaration of devotion. “I love you… I love you… I love you.”
Bonds of Justice 2: Stolen Rapture
Ever since his wife’s death, Kyros has pledged his life to eradicating the drug that killed her. Once a fertility drug, it now sells on the black market, chiefly as an additive in slave collars. When Kyros disables a slave runner’s ship, he never expects long dead feelings to be awakened by the sensual allure of the captive Zara Kevlar -- a spoiled runaway with dreams of independence.
Zara has no desire to go home to her overbearing brothers, and every desire to warm her rescuer’s bed. She needs Kyros to see her as a woman and not a spoiled brat. It takes some persuading, but she teams up with Kyros to fight the slavers. Her hardest fight, however, is convincing Kyros that sex with him is not a matter of gratitude or brainwashing, but something she wants to share from her heart.
Elayne Venton
Elayne Venton is a travel-aholic -- even if she’s confined to the window seat of her computer and flying over the Internet. You’ll find her stories set anywhere in the world… and beyond. From a remote mountain cabin to the largest city in the universe, there are men and women burning with passion, destined for each other, waiting for their story to be told.
After fifteen years working in the corporate world of Communications, Elayne quit and turned her writing talents to something more creative and enjoyable: romance fiction. She’s won various Romance Writers of America (RWA) contest awards and appreciates the feedback from readers and judges.
Having lived on the east coast all her life, from New Hampshire to North Carolina, Elayne has met characters -- oops -- people from all walks of life. Currently, Elayne lives in the inner coastal area of North Carolina with her industrious husband, two teenagers, a lovable golden retriever, and a pet rabbit.
Bonds of Justice: Blade’s Decree Page 8