It made Rory’s stomach burn to imagine this crazy preacher scooping up some innocent young girl and stealing her from her family simply because he didn’t like the way she was living.
“Jasper is a big believer in the family unit being made up of a father and mother. It’s possible he didn’t think it was right or proper having a young girl live with four older men even if they were her brothers.”
“I’ll kill him.” Flynn’s voice was low but there was no mistaking the deadly promise. This was no empty threat but a vow.
“If he’s the one you’re looking for,” Rory felt compelled to add. “It could be one of the others. Or it could be someone in the files I haven’t checked yet.
Flynn shook his head. “Look at him, Kal,” he prompted his brother.
Kal studied the picture. “What am I looking for?” he asked Flynn.
“He came to the house.” All eyes turned to Amos when he spoke. “I remember him now. He asked if we had any extra vegetables to sell from our garden.”
“Garden?” Rory asked.
“Abigail was responsible for a small garden in the back of our house,” Kal told her. “Our mother started it and we kept it going over the years. It didn’t produce much but every bit of food helped us survive. Quaros is a harsh place to hack a living and there were five kids to feed.”
“But he didn’t visit on the day Abigail disappeared,” Flynn continued. “It was on an earlier trip months before that. And he seemed harmless enough. Hell, he didn’t even look at Abigail while he was there. When I told him we had nothing to sell, he politely thanked me and left.” Agitated, Flynn began to pace. His tension was palpable and it seemed to Rory he was sucking all the air out of the room.
“We spent our time searching for any man who ever looked at Abigail, not those who ignored her. Hell, I passed over this guy’s picture.” Flynn stopped and glared at her. Rory swallowed hard and reminded herself it wasn’t her he was angry with. “I remember him being on the planet but he seemed to be with a group of women and men. Harmless.”
He threw himself into his seat and buried his face in his hands. “Fuck me. We’ve been looking in the wrong direction all these years.”
Garth went to his older brother and put a hand on his shoulder. “It’s not your fault, Flynn.”
He raised his head. “It is my fault. It was my job to protect her. To protect all of you.” His features hardened. “And I’m about to rectify that mistake.” He turned to Kal. “Find out where the preacher is. We’re going to have a talk with Jasper Freeman.”
“On it.” Kal slid into his seat and got to work.
Rory suddenly felt out of place. Forgotten. Well, why wouldn’t she be? She’d done what they’d asked. The only reason they’d freed her was for information.
Why then did she feel so let down? So alone?
Tilting up her chin, she strode for the door. She’d go through the rest of the names just to be sure there were no more possibilities on the list. Then she was done with Kal and his brothers. She’d stay out of their way until it was time for her to be dropped at Albion 5.
She stopped cold just beside the door. “You’ll take me to Albion 5 as promised?” She had only their verbal promise that they would. It wasn’t as if she had anything to hold over them if they changed their minds.
Kal’s head jerked up from what he was doing but it was Flynn who spoke. “As soon as we can. You have my word on it. If the search for Jasper takes us in another direction you’ll have to wait.” Flynn swiveled away from her, his attention back on the screen in front of him. She knew when she’d been dismissed.
“Where do I stay in the meantime?” If she was going to be here indefinitely, she couldn’t stay with Kal. He was beginning to become much too important to her while she was nothing more than a means to an end for him and his brothers. It would hurt enough as it was to leave him. If she continued to sleep with him and then he simply dropped her on Albion 5 and waved goodbye, Rory wasn’t sure she’d survive. She’d already lost too much in her life.
“You’ll stay with me.” Kal looked fiercely determined.
Rory shook her head. “That’s probably not a good idea for either of us.” She hit the button and the door slid open. “While you’re figuring that out, I’ll go through the rest of the pictures and see if there’s anyone else among them to add to the list. Just in case the Jasper Freeman angle is a dead end.”
She’d only take one step through the door when she went airborne. She made a sound somewhere between a scream and a gasp as her feet left the floor. Her entire body was flipped midair and she found herself tossed over Kal’s shoulder. Her breath came out in a whoosh.
Flynn was frowning, Garth was laughing and Amos was shaking his head as the door shut behind them.
“What are you doing?” she demanded when she got her breath back. “Put me down.”
“No.”
“What do you mean no?” Rory kicked him, or at least tried. Kal simply banded one arm over her legs and slapped her ass with his free hand. The sting made her jump.
“What the hell are you doing?” The man had obviously lost his mind. Maybe he’d contracted space fever between now and the time he’d left her earlier. That could make a man do all kinds of crazy things.”
“Showing you the benefits of sharing my quarters.”
Rory reached down and pinched his butt. Hard. He grunted and swatted her ass again. It didn’t hurt but it did make her entire body tingle. She ignored the heat of her behind and the throbbing of her pussy.
“You’re not helping your case,” she pointed out.
She should probably be afraid of him, terrified even. But this was Kal, the man who’d made her body sing, who’d rescued her from the most horrendous fate possible and who’d shown her that her father’s death hadn’t been her fault. She simply couldn’t be afraid of Kal. Angry with him. Certainly. Furious over his high-handed treatment. Absolutely. But not afraid.
He entered his quarters and the door slid shut behind them. The only thing she could hear was the sound of her own breathing and the hum of the life-support system as the air of the ship was filtered and gravity maintained.
Kal stood there as if wondering what to do next.
“Put me down. All the blood is going to my head and it’s making me dizzy.” Not entirely true. Some of the blood was going to other more intimate places.
He shifted her position but didn’t put her down. Instead he sat on the end of the bunk with her cradled in his lap. She was thankful not to be looking at the world from an upside-down position any longer.
“I want you to stay with me.” Kal’s jaw looked as though it had been carved from granite. No, make that diamond. It was harder than stone. A muscle beneath his eye twitched and his scar appeared more prominent than it usually did.
“Why?” She wasn’t trying to make him any angrier than he already was. Although why he was so upset with her was a mystery. Sure he’d miss the sex if she wasn’t sharing his space but she couldn’t see him being that furious over it. After all, he’d told her he hadn’t had sex for months before he’d taken her to bed and she believed him.
“Why?” he repeated.
She nodded. “Why do you care if I stay here or somewhere else? You got what you wanted out of me. I’ve given you several good leads and probably more when I finish going through the file of photos.”
Kal’s brow lowered and his green eyes became sharper than laser beams as he glared at her. “Because you’re mine.”
Chapter Seven
Kal struggled to control his growing anger. What did Rory think she was doing? And why the hell did she want to bunk somewhere else?
Well, he wasn’t having it. She belonged here with him.
He didn’t question the craziness of that last thought. He was long past rational reasoning when it came to the woman perched on his lap. Just the thought of Rory leaving him left his guts in a knot. It was like getting a fist to his heart when she’d casually mentio
ned Albion 5, but nothing like the boot to the balls he’d received when she’d said she wanted to move out of his quarters.
None of it made sense. Why should he care that she didn’t want to stay with him? He’d just met her, barely knew her, but that didn’t matter one little bit. They’d been through more in that short time than many people had in a lifetime together. He’d protected her. Saved her life. And she’d given him her trust.
The muscle beneath his eye continued to flutter. He forced himself to stop grinding his back teeth together for fear of damaging them. Rory felt right in his arms. He hadn’t realized they’d felt empty until he’d filled them with her.
“What do you mean, I’m yours?” She crossed her arms over her chest, the glint in her eye a direct challenge.
His palm itched to smack her rounded butt again. He’d never hurt her but she did try his patience.
“Just what I said.” He deposited her on the bed and yanked off her socks. He wasn’t going to forget to remove them this time. When she tried to shove his hands aside, he outmaneuvered her and managed to get her pants open. He pushed her down on the bed and pulled them away.
She was still wearing that ridiculous excuse for underwear. But he had to admit, they were eye-catching.
“Stop that.” She dug her heels in the mattress and scrambled away from him. Or she tried to. He grabbed her ankles and stopped her backward progress.
“Why?” He trailed his fingers up her calves, noting the way she sucked in a quick breath. “You enjoyed the sex earlier.” There was no way she was faking her response to him.
“Yes. Yes, I did.”
His cock roared to life, demanding release from his clothing. All the blood rushed to his dick and he sucked in a lungful of air to steady himself. She still wanted him. He could already imagine her naked beneath him as he plunged in and out of her sweet body.
“But.” He mentally put the brakes on his fantasy when she continued. “Just because I enjoyed it doesn’t mean it’s good for me.”
“I’ll make it very good,” he promised. He moved his hands higher, skimming her silky thighs. He noted the way her blue eyes darkened.
She swallowed hard. “That’s what I’m afraid of.”
That stopped him cold, his fingertips a mere swatch of flesh away from her panty-clad pussy. He rested his hand on her soft inner thighs, refusing to relinquish contact with her.
Women were confusing as hell, which was one of the reasons he’d always steered clear of any kind of attachment to one. But Rory was different. She was here, in his quarters, on his bed. She was also helping them find Abigail.
Plus there was a connection between them. One he’d felt from the moment he’d laid eyes on her dancing in the gilded cage on the Exos. Even if she hadn’t been the woman they’d needed, Kal knew he never would have left her there.
He shifted closer, turning his body sideways on the mattress and pulling his right knee onto the bed so he could sit facing her. He snagged her hand and circled her wrist with his fingers, covering the thorny vine tattooed around it. “I don’t understand.”
It wasn’t easy to follow the conversation with his cock throbbing like the damn thing hadn’t had sex in years instead of hours. Still, he managed. He sensed this conversation was very important. To both of them.
“I know you don’t.” Her words were sad and he felt as though he’d disappointed her somehow. That pissed him off.
“Then why don’t you explain it,” he snapped.
She frowned, her brows drawing low over her expressive eyes that snapped with annoyance. “I’m trying to.”
“Use simple words my male mind can understand.” There was no mistaking the sarcasm in his reply.
“Fine.” Rory tried to tug her arm away from him but he simply tightened his grip. He needed the connection with her. “The sex was good. Too good.”
Now he was totally lost. “If the sex was so damn wonderful, what’s the problem?” Honestly, he was beginning to wonder if Flynn didn’t have the right idea after all. According to his older brother, women were trouble and to be avoided at all costs. Amos always countered that there were plenty of compensations for the trouble. Garth always grinned and told them all to get laid.
Rory licked her lips. Kal’s gaze followed the path of her tongue across the plump lower one. His entire body shook with desire. What would her tongue feel like sliding up and down his cock? He clenched his jaw and shuddered as the erotic image was etched on his brain for eternity. He could almost feel Rory sucking him off. He swore, jumped off the bed and began to pace the small confines of his quarters.
“Don’t you see,” she continued. “The more sex we have, the more I want you.”
Kal’s head was going to explode if he tried to follow that logic. “That’s good, right?”
“For you.”
He raked his fingers through his hair and then clasped them behind his neck. It was either that or he’d strip Rory naked and bury his cock in her hot pussy. “You’re killing me,” he told her.
She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, the pose both protective and provocative. “I don’t mean too. Look at it from my perspective. The more sex we have, the more I want you.”
“You already said that.” He managed to force the words from between his clenched teeth. If she said it again he wouldn’t be responsible for his actions.
“I’ll come to care for you and then you’ll dump me on Albion 5, fly away and forget about me.” She finished the last in a rush. “I’ve already lost too much.” She shook her head, her red hair glinting in the ambient light coming from his desk lamp. “I can’t afford to lose anything else.”
Kal felt all his frustration and anger bleed from his body. Rory was alone in the galaxies. There was no one looking for her, no one waiting or worried. Kal might want to strangle his brothers from time to time but they were family. He never doubted for one second they’d have his back, no matter what the situation.
He couldn’t imagine not having that bulwark of support behind him. He’d always had it and, sometimes, took it for granted. Rory was giving him a new appreciation for his family.
“Rory.”
She held up her hand. “Don’t say anything. I know there’s no room in your life for a woman.” She gave a small laugh that was more of a sob. His heart clenched. “It’s obvious none of you want a woman on a permanent basis.”
“What if I did?” And where the hell had that come from?
Kal knew he must look as shocked as she did because she sighed. “That would be your sex drive talking.”
He frowned and thought about it, mulling over what she’d said. What would he feel like if Rory was gone, if she was no longer in his life? Panic, pure and strong, rose up inside him. She hadn’t been around very long but she’d already dug her way under his skin like an underground river leech. Only difference was that she was much prettier than the potentially deadly critter found deep in the mines on Quaros.
He’d use his knife to dig a river leech out from under his skin. Rory, he wanted to stay there. Shit, what was wrong with him? He’d obviously lost his mind.
When he took too long to respond, Rory spoke again. “See, you know I’m right.” The sadness in her eyes deepened. Kal couldn’t stand it. Not any longer.
He strode back to the bed and yanked her into his arms. “What are you do—” Before she could finish asking her question, he kissed her.
Sweet. She was so fucking sweet. He could spend hours kissing her. He plunged his tongue past her lips and groaned when hers met his. Kal knew then he’d never let her go. Albion 5 be damned. His brothers be damned. He was keeping her.
He cupped her face and tilted it so he could deepen their kiss. Every muscle in his body tensed in anticipation. His dick was so hard he feared he’d have a permanent dent in his battlesuit.
He tore his lips from hers and planted frantic kisses all over her face. “Have to have you.” There was no more time for talking.
Kal tore at her shirt, ignoring the loud rip of cloth. He moaned when her perfect breasts were exposed. He cupped one of them and rubbed his thumb over the ripe nipple.
“Let me have you.” It was as close to pleading as he’d ever come in his life but he needed to hear her say the words.
Rory stared at him. Her teeth worried her bottom lip. He swooped in and lapped at the small injury. She sucked in her breath and her nipple tightened beneath his thumb.
“Rory?”
She reached for the closure of his flightsuit and Kal knew he’d won.
Rory knew she was out of her mind. After her fine speech about why they shouldn’t have sex anymore, she’d melted as fast as ice in the desert at high noon. All he had to do was touch her and she wanted more.
God he was tough-looking with his shadowed jaw, scar and piercing green eyes. But he was so gentle too. His thumb barely grazed her nipple but she felt that small caress throughout her entire body.
Trying not to think about the colossal mistake she was making, Rory grabbed his hand and pushed it more firmly over her breast. He emitted a low rumbling sound, almost like a growl. It turned her on even more.
She had no sense of boundaries or self-preservation when it came to Kal. There was something about him that made her heart sing and all commonsense was lost beneath the onslaught of sexual desire. If it were only about the sex she could have held out against him but there was so much more.
“Let’s get this off you.” He shoved the shirt aside, leaving her clad only in her panties. The possessive way he looked at her ratcheted up her desire.
Maybe it was crazy. Maybe it was wrong. But she wanted to belong to Kal, to have a place with him, beside him. She’d spent her entire life being independent, even with her father. He’d treated her more like a boy than a girl, expecting her to take responsibility, work alongside grown men and to hide her emotions. It had been a lonely life. Now she wanted more.
Kal made a sound of pleasure and reached for her panties. “These don’t really cover much.”
Rescuing Rory Page 7