by Marie Harte
After kissing her until he could no longer breathe, he pulled away to trail his mouth down her neck. Kissing her delicious skin up and down, he returned to the shell of her ear and whispered his commands while alternately teasing her sensitive lobe.
“So sexy,” he murmured and pressed his teeth against her soft flesh. Pleased at her shiver, he continued. “How does it feel, touching yourself against me?”
“Good,” she breathed, shuddering when he shoved his tongue in her ear, deliberately simulating what he wanted to do with his cock.
“Imagine me touching you, preparing you for a good fucking.” Rafe blew in her ear and she moaned again. “Now thrust you finger deep, all the way inside you.” He felt her shift. “Ride your hand, baby. Fuck yourself and pretend it’s me. Because it will be, very soon.”
Arousal built as she rocked against him, and Rafe felt the pitch of her desire nearing its end. “Now rub that clit hard, Erin. Get yourself all wet. And come...right now.” He bit her ear lobe, pleased when her body tensed and she cried out against him.
Breathing hard, she fitted her head next to his, their cheeks touching.
Rafe’s hard-on returned with a vengeance, surprising him with the suddenness of his arousal. But it was the improbable affection crowding his lust that worried him. Not only was the sensation unwelcome, it was also puzzling. Erin didn’t appear to be from Mardu, so the natural chemistry couldn’t be explained by planetary impulse. And though he’d before been the recipient of sexual pheromones, namely at the hands of several professionally skilled pleasurers, he’d never felt such tenderness for a partner.
“I had no idea,” she murmured and pulled back to stare at him with an incredulous look in her eyes. She blushed and withdrew her hand from between them, refastening her trousers.
“Give me your finger,” Rafe growled, needing more.
She immediately complied and sucked in a breath when he took her finger deep into his mouth. Like a drug, her taste packed a wallop, and Rafe had to force himself to let go.
“The deal’s sealed,” he rasped, content when she nodded shakily and removed his cuffs without another word. She slid off his lap and sat quietly next to him in the driver’s seat, her gaze focused on her hands, and more specifically on her fingers.
He turned to face her, massaging his wrists. To his satisfaction, she didn’t tense or look wary when he touched her shoulder, but met his gaze straight on. “Now let’s talk about you and who told you to come looking for me.”
She blinked up into his smile, but instead of smiling back, she frowned. Rafe wanted to groan. No doubt about it, this case was going to suck, and unfortunately, not in a good way.
Erin didn’t know what to think, say or feel. She’d come so far from the obedient drone Canunn had initially created. Yet a few sexually charged minutes with Cheltam and she’d turned into a quivering mass of “Yes, Sir.” She clenched her jaw, unnerved and angry that a criminal of Cheltam’s class had gotten to her. And after giving her mindless pleasure.
Who would have thought she could gain such incredible bliss from her own fingers? Sure, she’d touched herself before, curious, but the pleasant hum of release had been nothing like what she’d just experienced. Unlike Anin’s descriptions of Synster’s frenzied copulation, Cheltam’s movements had been smooth, his commands purely carnal and surprisingly centered on her gratification.
Staring at the face that puzzled her, she wondered at the man so infamous for taking on System law and winning. What motivated a man like him? Obviously sex, but what else? And why was his intense scrutiny making her womb tighten with need yet again?
“So what’s the plan?” he asked, his voice deep with satisfaction. “This close to the Eron Forest, I’m assuming you want to hide out in the wild?”
“Actually, I had planned to trek past the forest and the Fields of Flor to the Anate Jungle.”
He said nothing, just stared at her. “What then?”
“I thought I’d give you enough time to, ah, think the matter over. And once you agreed to help me, we’d find a fifth class cruiser outfitted with munitions, have your techie steal the files I need, then blast Blue Rim into nothingness. End of story.”
“Not quite.” He smiled, but his grin didn’t hold any humor. “You’re a pretty popular woman right now with the law, I take it?” She frowned, and he hurriedly continued. “You’d have to be to think up a plan this insane. Look, Erin, totally leaving Tekar puts me at a disadvantage. Most of my contacts are up north and in the east. Granted, I know a lot of people not limited to just this planet, but venturing into the jungle makes no sense.”
“It makes perfect sense if you want to remain free,” she mumbled, not happy with this turn of events. Already he was trying to take over. “Look, I need you to get me equipment. And I’m paying you to do so.” She stared at his groin in reminder, but he didn’t so much as flinch. “Now follow my lead.”
“I don’t think so, precious.”
“Precious?” She flushed, remembering what she’d said to persuade him to help her. I’ll offer you something so rare and precious you’ll be begging to give me anything I need. Now she felt not only irritated, but foolish as well.
“I can hide us until we need to leave. I have contacts with several peacekeepers I trust, not to mention a few luxury suites to stay in until we have everything you want.” He grimaced at the forest around them. “I’m not one for roughing it.”
“Why am I not surprised?” She clearly recalled his house in Tekar. “The thing is, I don’t entirely trust you.”
“Smart girl.”
“Exactly. Out here, it’s a lot easier to spot an incoming threat, as opposed to relaxing in a luxury suite where you’ll set me up to get my ass carted right back to Eyra. I don’t think so.”
Cheltam frowned. “But Erin—”
“No.” Without missing a beat, she pulled a flat disc from a hidden trouser pocket and aimed at him. “With this I can slice you open from top to bottom. The laser is Eyran in design. Deadly.” Just like me. “Now get out of the rover and do what I tell you.”
“Erin, you’re making a mistake.”
“Well, it won’t be the first. Now we’re going to get some supplies, and then we’re disappearing into the forest for a while. We move when I say move, then stop when I say stop. And Cheltam? I’ve had it with your attempts to tell me what to do. We made a deal, and you will stick to it.”
His nostrils flared and his eyes seemed to glow, a preternatural shine of golden fire blazing in the depths of his gaze. For the life of her, Erin didn’t understand why his anger excited her.
“You threatening me, Erin?” He leaned closer, his stare unswerving. Faster than she could blink, he disarmed her.
Astonished at his speed but not wanting to show it, she pulled him close and glared at him, deliberately pulling the collar of his shirt tight around his neck, making it hard for him to breathe. “No, I’m not threatening you, Cheltam. I’m promising you. Keep screwing with me and I won’t put a hole in you with a laser, but with my bare hand.”
He didn’t blink, almost daring her to choke him. But Erin needed him willing and walking on his own. She especially didn’t want to call undue attention to them from the provincial inhabitants this far away from the cities, where anyone unusual stood out. So as much as she didn’t want to, she let him go.
Cheltam, however, scooted even closer, clouded rage darkening his gaze. “Killing me won’t get you what you want.” He yanked her hard into him, and to her surprise, the rock solid feel of his chest under her palms made her want to forego their escape and return to the sexual play she couldn’t forget. “We sealed the deal, and on that my word is good,” he emphasized, glaring at her.
“I know your word is good.” Cheltam’s reputation was legendary when it came to finishing the job. The hard part lay in convincing the criminal to take the job. “But I’m in charge, so get it through that thick skull to follow my lead. I’ll tell you everything you want to know o
nce we’re away from this vehicle. Trust me, we need to move. It never takes them long to find me, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re on their way here right now.” She pulled back, and to her surprise, he let her go. Yet his predatory gaze followed every movement she made.
“You can have this back later.” He showed her the slim laser and pocketed it. “But Erin, we need to talk about this plan of yours, after we get out of here. No doubt someone’s been watching us since we pulled up, and the Mardu out here love to tell tales.”
“They’ll have nothing to tell about me.” She quickly donned the jacket she’d brought with her, but couldn’t find her hat so kept her head bared.
“You said it never takes long for ‘them’ to find you. Who’s ‘them’?” he grumbled as they both exited the vehicle. A glance around showed them to be the only visitors to the out-of-the-way market tower, but Erin kept her voice low so as not to be overheard when she answered.
She reached back in to grab the small bag she’d thrown together before escaping his house and joined him in front of the rover, facing what looked like a huge tree, but was in fact a trading tower, the last one before they entered the Eron Forest.
“I’m talking about the scientists at Blue Rim. They’ve got connections the System over. Technology you can’t begin to imagine.” Like that implanted tracking device that had been an absolute bitch to find and destroy. Erin rubbed her side, aggravated at how careless she’d been not to have realized they would have tracked her in the first place. Talk about stupidly naive.
“I look forward to hearing more, after we hike into the Flor-forgotten forest.” He glared at her, and then at the surrounding woods. With a loud sigh, he grabbed the bag from her hands, hefted it over his shoulder, and walked toward the trading tower. “Might want to put those glasses back on.”
She hurriedly did so and followed him, irritated that for all her threats, he still managed to do what he wanted. And dammit, she couldn’t very well knock him on his ass and maintain a low profile. Her senses were on alert, anticipating Blue Rim security or peacemakers at any moment.
Unfortunately, she wasn’t disappointed. The minute they entered the small market, danger surrounded them.
Chapter Four
THE GIANT TREE they stood within had been hollowed out and floored with stone. Long counters lined the outer perimeter of the place, upon which several items lay. Animal hides, food stuffs, and ammunitions took up much of the rest of the racks and shelves lining the walls and displays in the middle of the room. Large windows allowed the natural light outside to filter through the store, and the added char stones gave the place the illumination it needed.
Several ladders showed passage to the upper, darker reaches of the tree, probably where the merchant stored his warehouse of goods. But it wasn’t the small, rotund, greedy-eyed shopkeeper that caught her attention. The three overly large peacemakers bullying the merchant as they piled more on the counter fixed and held her interest. To her dismay, she’d captured theirs as well.
“Easy, love,” Cheltam murmured just loudly enough to be heard by all. “I told you this place would be safe enough. See? There are a few of our friendly lawmen keeping the outskirts of society protected as we speak.”
Two of the peacemakers chuckled and continued to pocket whatever caught their fancy. The other kept a wary eye between the merchant and them, and she instinctively knew he’d be the one to watch out for.
Cheltam squeezed her hand.
“Thanks, love.” She squeezed him back. “I’m fine. I’ll just see if they have anything over here that we can use on our trip.”
He stared at her for a moment, then nodded and left her for the merchant behind his counter. The two peacemakers fighting over some nonsense the merchant objected to ignored Cheltam, clearly not seasoned lawmen. Hell, the first time she’d seen Cheltam she’d been wary of his obvious threat. However, the older, more suspicious peacemaker watched Cheltam begin an itemized list of needs. But after a few moments, seeing nothing out of the ordinary, the lawman left him alone and walked toward Erin.
She slowly turned toward a bin of poorly crafted scarves and looked within, as if she intended to purchase one of the nasty little garments. The chill of the forest’s cooling temperature might warrant such an item, but Erin only wanted to delay the confrontation looming steadily nearer. She did her best to still any hint of her pheromones designed to entice the enemy. While taking out this potential threat might make her feel better, it would only alert his companions of trouble. And she didn’t want anyone remembering her visit as anything other than unremarkable.
The red-black hair and long jacket she wore she could easily explain as a fashion trend. With her eyes behind dark glasses and her senses tamped, she stood as close to normal as she could possibly be. Though her skin normally glittered with vitality, when she focused, she could suppress her natural ability to sense energy in the air around her, thus making her skin look normal, if a touch more golden than most.
“You’re not going to buy those?”
She glanced to her left and smiled at the lawman, inwardly swearing when his gaze homed in on her lips. “No. I was curious about what they’re made from. I’m not a native Mardu, and I find the different cultures on the planet fascinating.”
The male stood an inch or two shorter than Cheltam, putting him at her height. He had brawn and a smattering of intelligence in his dark eyes, yet his stare held a hint of malice as well. He fisted his hands on his hips, drawing attention to his dark brown uniform and the impressive laser pistol at his side. “My name’s Ollen. I’d be happy to show you around, if you like.”
He smiled, and the cruel twist to his lips warned her that this one wouldn’t shake free easily. A glance over his shoulder showed Cheltam still engaged with the merchant, gathering supplies she hadn’t ordered. The merchant gathered coils of rope, char shards for lighting, a few packets of compressed food and a large globe of some type of liquid on the counter. Then he and Cheltam began haggling about price.
“I’m with someone.” She tried for a pleasantly remorseful tone. Unfortunately, Ollen continued to think with the wrong head—a comment she’d heard her sister make many, many times concerning the male of the species. Erin still found the comparison fascinating, that a male’s genitals and brains might have something in common.
“But you’re not with him now. Your friend looks busy.” The peacemaker took another step closer and put a hand on her arm.
Alarms fired in Erin’s body, and at a loss to control her anxiety, she felt herself naturally accommodate to incapacitate the threat. Ollen inhaled and froze, his entire body shifting to align itself with hers.
“Let’s go fuck. Now.” The brutality barely dormant within him came out in force as he jerked her closer, his strength bruising.
Cheltam, finally, glanced over his shoulder at her and frowned. But then the other two guards said something to engage him and nodded at the door. He clenched his jaw and caught her eye. “I’ll be back, love. Sit tight and try not to break anything.” Or anyone, his glance at Ollen seemed to say. Cheltam shot her another look and turned away.
Nice to know he thought she could handle herself. But as Erin watched him leave, she worried about how best to deal with the situation when the peacemaker tried to steal a kiss. Dodging his lips, she moved back a pace and smiled, taking him off balance. “Now that he’s gone, let’s find a quiet corner and entertain ourselves. What do you say?”
Ollen grinned and dragged her with him toward the merchant. “Take a break, Herm. We need to do some official peacemaker business, you get my meaning?”
Herm glared but said nothing. Instead, he turned on his heel and slammed out of the shop.
“Strip and bend over the counter,” Ollen ordered and unbuckled his belt. His fingers shook as he inhaled again, and she noted the dilation of his pupils as she filled the small space around them with her perfume. “Fuck me. You smell damned good. Now hurry the hell up. I’m not going to la
st long.”
You got that right. He tore at his trousers, and Erin laid him out flat in no time. She didn’t even try to be gentle, gratified by the sound of his thick skull bouncing off the unforgiving stone floor.
Shaking her head at the inherent weakness in all males—most males, she reminded herself, recalling Cheltam’s surprising control—she dragged the peacemaker behind one of the counters and tied him up with some nearby rope. After gagging him, she moved to the exit, seeing nothing through the windows of the shop. Had Cheltam escaped, somehow? Or worse, joined with the rogue peacemakers to turn her in? Though he had a reputation as loyal once he’d contracted his services, Cheltam might decide to make an exception in Erin’s case. Blue Rim and their lucrative reward for her capture made it impossible for her to trust anyone.
Stealing herself for the worst, Erin pushed out the door and walked cautiously around the trading tower. As she moved away from the entrance, she noticed Cheltam dragging one unconscious male into the invading wood line. Stunned with relief, she could only watch him work.
Seeing her, the tension in his frame eased. “I take it you put that other asshole out of commission.” She nodded, and he motioned to another body on the ground. “Grab that one.”
Erin automatically grabbed the male and hid him next to the other guard. Cheltam used a bit of rope to quickly secure both men before holding up a nasty looking cloth.
Aiming a menacing grin at the peacemakers, he then turned to Erin. “Don’t ask where I found this, because you don’t want to know.” He ripped it in half and stuffed the rags into their mouths. When finished, he stood and stared at Erin, his good mood souring rapidly. “Go wait for me inside the store. And for Flor’s sake, tone down that scent unless you want to spread those legs for a hard fuck regardless of who’s watching.” He had the gall to push her back toward the entrance of the tower and away from him, but when she saw the “who” he mentioned she understood. Several tree lengths away near their rover, the merchant, Herm, paced back and forth, oblivious to everything but his own disgruntled rambling.