by Jaide Fox
"They're for sale?” Bubba exclaimed excitedly, clapping his pudgy hands together.
Cole glanced at her sister, saw that she, too, had managed to remove her binding. “Now!"
Whipping a weapon from her clothing, she tossed one to her brother and one to Sylo, then pulled her own weapon out and began blasting at anything that moved. Her sister tossed a weapon to Kerel and one to Hauk before grabbing her own weapon. Open mouthed with shock, Hauk and Sylo nevertheless managed to catch the weapons thrown to them. Training them on their chains, they blasted their way free and leapt from the dais. The six of them whirled almost as one, like a well trained fighting unit, and dashed for the exit, firing as they went.
Guards swarmed toward them from every direction, but they'd had surprise on their side and had managed to incapacitate the guards in the throne room before reinforcements showed up. They fled down the corridor toward the landing site.
"I'm not leaving without my ship,” Sylo announced. “Me and Fuzz will take the bounty hunters’ pod back to the main ship."
"I'll go with you and help,” Ryan volunteered.
Cole would've argued, but it seemed more important at the moment just to get off Ustbol. While Sharmin and Kerel lay down fire, she and her sister dashed for Kerel's ship and up the gang plank. Sharmin and Kerel practically fell through the door behind them and then raced for the control room.
Within moments, they were airborne. Kerel cut a circle and returned, firing on Bubba's ships before they could launch and disabling them.
Hauk insisted on meeting Sylo at the bounty hunter's ship, however—he wanted his clothes!
Cole knew, without any doubt whatsoever then that he was Hauk. Kerel grumbled but finally agreed and followed the pod Sylo was piloting.
Cole and Luna cheered when they made it safely away and hugged each other tightly. Linking arms, they left the two men and went into the cabin her sister had been using. Once there, they discarded their disguises and sat down on the bunk facing each other. “I can't believe you and Ryan came after me!” Cole exclaimed. “I mean, I can. You've always looked out for me. I just can't believe you're here, that you managed it."
Luna smiled wryly. “Actually, we almost didn't make it. When Kerel showed up with his tale, we didn't believe him—naturally. But we did believe he'd had a hand in kidnapping you. He kept insisting that he'd been bringing you home, though, and that you'd been taken captive. We didn't trust him, but we knew the only chance we had of getting you back was to go with him—so, here we are!
"What I'd like to know is, what happened to you? How did they capture you in the first place and how did you end up here?"
"It's a long, long story, but I guess we've got time."
Chapter Thirteen
Cole could hardly believe everything she'd gone through since that fateful day months ago at the jail. But finally, at long last, she was on the way home. Not that it truly mattered, she supposed. Her entire family was now in space. Ryan was off somewhere with Hahn Sylo and Fuzzy, doing god only knew what, and Luna was in the cockpit with Kerel, making his life a living hell.
Cole chuckled. Luna was more aggravating even than her—well, that's where she'd learned all her tricks from.
Hauk hadn't caught on yet that she knew who he was, and Cole didn't have any intention of letting him know she knew. She was still pissed about it. Actually, she was surprised the urge to hit him over the head wasn't stronger, but she could use subtler means of revenge than that.
He hadn't tried to touch her either.
Which was another reason, she could admit, why she was so damned pissed. Not that she would have welcomed any attempts to make love to her now that she knew what a dirty trick he'd played on her, but the attack of the bounty hunters had interrupted them in the heat of the moment and she still felt an uncomfortable sense of dissatisfaction.
She dismissed it. She'd rather resort to her dildo than give him the satisfaction of encouraging him to finish what they'd started.
She was far more interested in paying him back for his deception. She was willing to bet he'd been laughing inside the whole time.
Hauk had left their cabin to eat. While he was gone, Cole readied herself for payback. She didn't start straightening up their room until she heard the heavy approach of his footsteps.
When she heard the hiss of pressure as the door slid open, she bent and leisurely shook out the sheets on the bed.
"Cole, I ... brought...."
She smiled to herself, then looked at him over her shoulder. He was standing stock still just inside the door, a cup held in one lax hand, staring at her ass, his eyes glazing, his mouth gaping slightly.
"Hmmmm?” she questioned, straightening to face him. “Something wrong?"
Her movement seemed to break the spell. He blinked, shaking himself from his stupor. “I brought you something to drink,” he croaked, surging forward, clumsily handing her the cup.
She accepted it, taking a sip of a drink that reminded her somewhat of orange juice. “Thank you.” Returning her attention to bed making, she bent over at the waist, fluffing the pillows. “You know, I'm sure glad Kerel finally showed up. If it had been up to that jerk, Hauk, to save me, I'd probably never have gotten off of Ustbol. Of course, it was his fault I was taken in the first place. You'd never take advantage of me like that, would you, Sharmin?” she asked, glancing up at him innocently.
His eyes were glazed again. As she watched, his adam's apple bobbed convulsively. He looked at her like he wanted to kiss her ... desperately. She averted her gaze to the glass, picking it up again, looking anywhere but at him ... and the bed.
"Hauk's not as bad as that,” he said in a strangled voice.
"Humph!” Cole disputed him. “I think I'm being easy on him. After all, it was his fault I ended up at the slave market! I was so lucky it was you who bought me."
He opened his mouth and shut it again, and finally turned and stalked out of the room without another word.
Cole sat on the bed and set her cup down before pulling the covers over herself. She sighed, leaning back on the pillows, waiting for the sense of satisfaction that failed to materialize. She'd done what she'd set out to do. She'd given him a taste of his own medicine, and told him what she thought about his behavior while she was at it.
The only problem was, she didn't feel half as satisfied at her success as she ought to have. In fact, the way he'd stomped out with that hurt little look on his face ... well ... it just made her feel bad.
Irritation surfaced. Why should she feel guilty about hurting his feelings? For that matter, how did she know, for sure, that she had?
He'd probably just been playing for sympathy with that wounded puppy dog look.
She didn't believe it for a moment. He didn't know she'd found out about his deception. If he had, he'd have realized she was saying it to him because she knew he'd feel the stab. Instead, he thought she really felt that way.
Which she did, of course.
An unaccustomed sense of depression settled over her. She was going home. She should be dancing, not moping in the cabin.
She thought it over for a while and finally arrived at the conclusion that she was horny. There was just no getting around it. If he just hadn't left her hanging that last time.... Not that it was his fault the bounty hunters chose that moment to attack, but nevertheless....
Anyway, she was curious to know if it had been the passion fruit or her that had driven Hauk wild. Maybe the fruit did work differently on vulkahns....
That thought depressed her even more.
Sighing, she climbed out of the bunk and paced the cabin, trying to think of something to do with herself. Finally, spying Hauk's belongings piled in one corner, she decided she might as well make herself useful and actually clean the cabin. As she was shaking the jumpsuits out, something round and semi-hard tumbled out and rolled across the floor.
A slow smile curled Cole's lips. Passion fruit. Free, wild sex, without restraint and without g
uilt!
Now all she had to do was figure out a way to slip it to Hauk, which wasn't going to be easy considering she'd hurt his feelings. After a little though, she decided she could offer it to ‘Sharmin’ for being her hero and rescuing her on Nagia, and for agreeing to allow her to go home. All she had to do was wait for the opportunity.
To her surprise and disappointment, the opportunity didn't present itself that night. Apparently, she'd hurt Hauk's feeling a lot worse than she realized, because he avoided the cabin as if typhoid Mary was holed up in it.
Well, she decided the following morning, if Mohammed won't come to the mountain....
Dressing, she left the cabin and wandered into the rec. room. As she'd expected, Hauk took one look at her and decided to vacate. She watched until he disappeared down the companionway toward the cabin and then set about making a fruit salad for him. She reached the cabin just as he emerged from the head, freshly scrubbed and looking delicious.
Feeling suddenly shy, she smiled at him a little nervously and showed him her offering. “I fixed this for you."
Hauk's gaze flickered to the fruit and then returned to her face. He studied her searchingly for several moments, obviously torn. Finally, he smiled faintly. “Thanks."
She'd planned on feeding it to him, but she didn't argue when he took the bowl and settled on the bunk to eat. Instead, she went into the head to take a shower. When she came out, he was sprawled limply on the bed.
Cole smiled and felt a tug in her chest. She shrugged out of the robe she'd slipped on after her shower, dropping it to the floor, and strode quietly toward the bed. Moving carefully, she eased onto the mattress, sidling next to him and resting her head on one outstretched arm.
She placed a hand over his heart, rubbing a soft circle on his smooth, firm skin. She nuzzled his neck, breathing deeply of his scent. He smelled so good, untainted by modern perfumes and deodorants, simply, Hauk Desal.
She kissed the crook of his neck and shoulder, sliding a bare leg up and over his lap. Her knee brushed against his groin. He was hard.
Heat suffused her at the knowledge, fueling her desire, making her cleft ache with a needy emptiness. She ran her tongue over his skin, rubbing her fingers over a nipple until it hardened. His response never failed to fascinate her.
He moaned, grabbing her wrist. Cole went still, looked up and met his eyes. Her breath caught in her throat at the look there, the passion simmering in his expression, the dark, heavy brows and eyes that seemed to reflect a myriad of emotions.
His other arm closed around her suddenly, tightened. He pulled her trapped hand, lifting her until she was splayed across his chest and his mouth was inches from her own.
She'd found her breath. It came in droves now, making her lungs hurt. Her throat felt closed on her heart as she stared helplessly down at his mouth.
His gaze flicked to her parted lips. His fingers tightened on her wrist, almost painfully, as if he was afraid she'd flee him.
Her blood rushed in her ears with the roar of a water fall, heady, powerful. She closed her eyes, feeling dizzy with the rush that flowed through every part of her body. She couldn't stand this, this suspense, this waiting for him to do ... something.
As if sensing her breathless impatience, his lifted his chin, nipping her bottom lip and tugging it with his own. She jerked subtly, surprised at his tender aggression as he sucked her lip. With a whimper of need, she closed the distance between them and sealed her mouth over his, thrusting her tongue into his mouth.
He groaned and suckled her, tangling his tongue with hers. His hands were moving, shifting her on top of him until her thighs fell on either side of his hips. He cupped her buttocks, spreading her cheeks, forcing her down as he thrust up.
Fabric encased steel connected with her naked cleft. Cole whimpered into his mouth, stroking his face, rocking her body against him, needing to feel him everywhere, inside.
He tore his lips from hers with a groan of impatience. He rolled, flipping her beneath him, releasing her from the muscular cage of his body just long enough to free his engorged length. It sprang from the binding, falling heavily against her hip as he thrust his jumpsuit off with jerky movements.
Free of his confinement, he landed on top of her, bearing her down into the mattress. He parted her willing thighs with one knee, forcing her legs wide to except the breadth of his hips.
He locked his hands around her biceps, holding her down, burying his face against her neck as he drove his unfettered cock hard against her cleft. Cole heard the wet sound of connection, cried out at the erotic slip of his cock through her engorged folds, up to the white hot center of her. The rigid stroke against her clit threatened to undo her.
She cried out, digging her hands into the sheets, frustrated at her imprisonment, her inability to move against him as she wished.
He bit her neck, dragging in a ragged breath as his hips shifted and moved again. His entire body was hard and unforgiving as his erection, every point of connection with his flesh made her quiver in response. Her nerve endings tingled with the vibration of his movement.
She couldn't speak, couldn't beg him with anything but her mind. Her knees moved restlessly against his hips, her heels under his buttocks, urging him to complete her, to ease the painful emptiness.
He growled against her neck, scoring her flesh with his teeth, burning her with the scrape, urging the sensations in her higher and higher. She strained against him, felt tears sting her eyes and wet her cheeks.
The rough slip changed, became a push that made her wince and gasp in agony. The thin flesh stretched around the head of his cock as he wedged it into her pussy. She felt as substantial as gossamer, close to tearing apart at the breadth of him.
He grunted against her neck, a purely masculine sound of approval, and then he was pushing again, forcing her to accept him.
She wanted to—god, she wanted all of him, every rigid inch deep inside, ramming into her womb.
Her muscles tensed against the forceful invasion, threatened to push him out. He was stronger than she, unwilling to accept retreat ... nothing but utter surrender. With a hoarse cry, he plunged to the hilt inside her, arching his back until he filled every inch she had to give.
Cole screamed, tossing her head. Pain bloomed like a strike. Beneath it, tremulously holding her together hovered the promise of pleasure. Her muscles spasmed, clenching and unclenching on the fist of flesh plunged into her core.
She panted, bright lights dancing before her eyelids, blood leaving her head to pound in her heart. She thought for a moment that she would pass out.
"Don't stop,” she managed to whisper past the sobs burning in her throat.
He leaned close to her, freeing her arms, propping his elbows on either side of her head. She touched his back, weakly holding on, squeezing her eyes tight as he withdrew and plunged in again.
Her body wept at his possession, the forceful, piston strokes of his cock through her core. He tenderly kissed her lips, drawing her eyes open. There was something in his gaze that frightened her, made her ache more than she'd thought possible. She wanted to close her eyes against this new invasion, but she couldn't. He held her trapped with his gaze, boring into her even as he plumbed her deepest depths.
She bit her lip, trying to hold the cries that threatened to spill out. He ground his pubic bone against her clit with each stroke, searing her, sending her nerves to spiraling out of control.
She felt the bliss coming like an old lover. She welcomed it, knew its face, but it was different this time, stronger, unrestrained, pouring deeper through her. She felt it in her toes, her fingertips, like the pulse of blood rush after regained circulation. It tingled, prickled her skin with gooseflesh.
Sensing her approach, Hauk crushed his mouth to hers, thrusting his tongue into her mouth, pouring his essence inside her, his taste, his scent all around. Cole sobbed into his mouth, breaking inside, clinging to him for life as the orgasm unrolled inside her and twisted, churning thro
ugh her depths like the rough waves of a stormy ocean.
Her kegels seized on him, wringing the seed from his body. He cried out into her mouth, going rigid one heart stopping second, and then he was pumping madly inside her as his cock jerked with climax.
She bore the brunt of his strokes, digging her nails into his back, holding him close, tight. He broke away from her mouth, releasing a hoarse cry that reverberated through her bones. She followed him with her moans, soaking up the milk of his body until he collapsed weakly on top of her, his body shuddering and jerking with the force of his climax.
She trembled beneath him, barely breathing, loving the weight of his body on top of her, the press of his muscles against her skin, and the ragged movement of his chest dragging in shuddering breaths.
She sighed, stroking his back, soothing the madness that had claimed them both.
After the raging beats of their hearts had tempered to a normal rhythm, Hauk lifted his head and looked down at her. “You are more trouble—"
"Than I'm worth?” she murmured lazily.
"You're worth every moment,” he whispered, kissing her softly.
Cole smiled against his lips, stretching beneath him. She could almost forget about all he'd done if he would continue talking like that.
Cole was still luxuriating in the aftermath of their torrid love making when Luna's voice abruptly broke the silence of the intercom unit. “Hey, kid. Earth off the port bow. You should come have a look!"
Chapter Fourteen
A jolt went through Cole.
Earth.
God, how had they reached it so soon?
She sat bolt upright, clutching the covers to her. The wave of joy that washed through her lapsed like a quick adrenaline rush, though, followed almost instantly with a wave of ... what?
She glanced at Hauk. Without looking at her, he rolled off the bunk and began dressing. Cole stared at his back for a few moments and finally got up and dressed and left the cabin.