by Aubrey Ross
“Of course. How could you not? You’re telepathic. If you can read my mind, why don’t you know why I’m pissed off?”
“I’m empathic. It’s different than telepathy. I can feel how upset you are, but I can’t hear your thoughts in the way you mean.”
“How unfortunate for you.”
He said nothing for a long time. Gloriously naked and in no apparent hurry to re-dress, he just stared at her. “Does this have something to do with Korbin?”
“No.” She turned her face away. He was the enemy. She couldn’t let herself forget it again.
“What is your association with him?”
“He’s the leader of the rebels.”
“And who are you?”
“Your hostage.”
He tossed her panties to her and gathered his clothes. “I have work to do.” He quickly donned his uniform, frustration clouding his gaze. “In your present mood, I think you’ll be less trouble locked in here.”
She didn’t reply until he reached the doorway. As the panel slid shut, she whispered, “Don’t count on it.”
Chapter Five
“I have work to do,” Corry mocked as she paced the small cabin. How much work could there be on an automated schooner? He was probably trying to extend the range of communications. Send a message to Daddy.
How could she have been such a fool? She’d looked into his eyes and… It didn’t matter. She couldn’t change what happened, but she could make damn sure it didn’t happen again. She couldn’t go to Halley Prime. That’s all there was to it. No matter what it took, she had to escape.
With her determination restored, Corry stopped pacing and looked more carefully at the room. There was a computer terminal built into the corner desk, but it didn’t respond to voice command. There was no keyboard or control panel, so it was either malfunctioning or Ashton had cut off her access to the rest of the ship.
“Damn.” Cyber-sabotage was out of the question. She’d have to find a more overt approach. The most direct route between Borrelly and Halley Prime would take them past Chiron and Temple-Tuttle. Corry had no particular preference, but she needed to force a landing on one of the two outposts.
There had to be something useful, a tool—or a weapon.
Opening the wall locker, Corry continued her search. Two maintenance uniforms hung in the back of the narrow compartment. She hadn’t noticed them earlier. There were numerous pockets and loops for tools, but the corresponding tools were nowhere in sight. At least she’d be covered. Solid gray-green, the uniform zipped up the front. It had a drawstring to adjust the waist but both the legs and sleeves were too long for her diminutive frame. She quickly rolled up the excess material and resumed her search.
She spotted an access panel in the back corner of the compartment and smiled. If she could get belowdecks, it wouldn’t be hard to create some form of malfunction. She tugged on the panel until it came loose. Ducking her head down into the opening, she looked in both directions before descending the narrow metal ladder.
Masses of wiring, electronic components and system housings cluttered the walls. She had acquired a basic knowledge of spacecraft for her supply runs to the outposts. This schooner was newer than hers, but locating the beryllium generator shouldn’t be that difficult. She could barely sit up in the limited space and even crawling was a challenge with the numerous obstacles. She needed to hurry. Ashton wouldn’t leave her alone for long.
Spotting the generator, she inched toward the main power supply. This would be tricky without any tools. She couldn’t cause an overload or short out the system. Kneeling beside the generator, she felt its rhythmic hum vibrate through her body.
Vibrating.
Humming.
Just like Ashton’s… She would not think about him! Her body tingled with echoes of sensation, but she focused entirely on escape.
Highly concentrated beryllium fueled most midrange spacecraft. If she could find the manual release valves, she could simply jettison the tanks. Moving farther down the crawlspace, she located the twin cylinders. She ran her hands along the top and then the bottom of the tank closest to her. Ah, there it was.
She grasped the lever with both hands and tugged. It wouldn’t budge. She readjusted her grip and tried again. Nothing. Frustrated but not ready to abandon her plan, Corry found a similar lever on the other tank. The second was also stubborn but finally gave way beneath her persistent pulling.
She heard an alarm sound in the distance and realized Ashton would soon know what she’d done. His angry footfalls stomped overhead and then she heard “Where the hell are you?” echo through the ship.
Corry laughed despite the fury in his voice. She’d won this round.
His head appeared in an open hatchway at the opposite end of the crawlspace. “Are you absolutely insane?”
Another quick laugh escaped before she could suppress her excitement. She’d done it! She’d thwarted mighty Director VinDerley.
“Get up here now!”
“Why don’t you come get me?” she suggested with a cheeky smile.
“If I touch you right now, I’ll snap your scrawny neck.”
“Shouldn’t you be plotting our new course?”
He muttered an especially vile curse and pulled his head out of the hatchway.
Corry waited until she could maintain a straight face before she ventured abovedeck. Flaunting her success was bound to cause trouble. She found him at the helm, desperately calculating their options.
“You couldn’t have jettisoned the half-empty tank, could you? We’re going to be lucky to reach the near side of Temple-Tuttle and there’s nothing there but swamps and jungles. I hope you like snakes.”
He flung the criticism over his shoulder without turning his attention from the navigational screen. Temple-Tuttle, the spiritual center of the coalition. Corry had never been to the outpost. They didn’t need her smuggled supplies. But she’d seen vids of the planet’s lush jungles and undeveloped wilderness. The occupants preferred a simple, more spiritually centered life. They didn’t ban technology. It was simply unimportant to them.
“There’s nowhere to set down,” he muttered. “You’ve probably killed us both, you impulsive little fool.” He suddenly reached for the safety restraints and secured himself to the pilot’s chair.
He didn’t advise her to do the same, but Corry followed suit. His movements were frantic and fear hardened his expression. Corry nervously licked her lips and tugged against her safety restraints. Had she been too hasty? Would he be able to land the ship?
She knew better than to ask. Her gaze focused on the vidscreen. Temple-Tuttle rushed toward them with alarming speed. The ship groaned and trembled as the planet’s atmosphere battered them with forces far greater than the shields were meant to withstand. Corry held her breath. She was jarred left then right before Ashton stabilized their trajectory.
He spoke only curses. She kept silent.
Corry’s hands clutched the padded arms of the chair while her heart pounded painfully. She closed her eyes, whispering nearly forgotten prayers. She didn’t want to die, hadn’t meant to kill them with her rash action.
The schooner hit a solid object and spun out of control. Corry cried out. The lights flickered for a second before blinking out. They spun through the darkness like a feather on the wind. The safety restraints bit painfully into her shoulders and hips as the ship carved a new path through the external environment.
As suddenly as it had lurched out of control, the schooner jerked to a stop. It rocked forward and back then settled into place.
They were alive! Corry let out a ragged sigh. She giggled, a spontaneous release of tension. Perhaps a bit battered but definitely alive.
“Well, little rebel,” Ashton’s voice penetrated the darkness, “I don’t know what you hoped to accomplish by forcing us down, but here we are.”
She could hear him releasing his restraints. What should she do now? She had to get away from him or her actions had no pu
rpose.
“I can’t go to Halley Prime with you. I told you that. You should have left me on Borrelly.” She didn’t think he’d left his chair, but the darkness was impenetrable.
“All you’ve done is postponed our arrival. I have no intention of letting you out of my sight.”
“I’m out of your sight right now.” She couldn’t resist.
As if at his command, the secondary power supply activated and emergency lighting flickered to life. Corry gasped. He was standing right in front of her, long legs spread, fists planted firmly on his hips.
Before Corry could guess his intent, Ashton grabbed her hand. In one fluid movement, he snapped a cuff around her wrist and fastened the other around his own. “Let’s see you get away from me now.”
* * * * *
“The private cabin has the only bunk wide enough for both of us.” Ashton waited for her to react. She was so easy to provoke and her responses were so entertaining, he couldn’t resist.
“Secure me to one of the other bunks. I am not sleeping with you.”
They sat across from each other, their joined hands resting on top of the galley’s small table. “Securing you seems to be far more challenging than I anticipated. You’re as slippery as a Chironian slime eel.”
“We’re going to a settlement first thing in the morning. What point would there be in running away now?”
“You expect me to explain what goes on inside your twisted mind?” he teased. “I can’t explain why you forced the schooner down, much less why you’re so bent on getting away from me.”
“What will you do with me once we reach Halley Prime?” Her gleaming eyes and tilted chin accented the challenge in her words.
“That depends on how quickly you can convince your friends to release the other hostages.”
“If they immediately release the others, then what?”
“I’ll intervene where I can.”
She indulged in a very childish snort. “How comforting. I’ll be sent back to Borrelly as an inmate instead of an employee.”
“So you are employed by Corrections?”
Her smile was slow and sly. “Not exactly. My work is philanthropic. Borrelly is centrally located. It made my…routine easier.”
“What was your routine?”
“Stealing from the rich and distributing to the poor. I’m a modern day Robin Hood.”
“You steal supplies from Halley Prime and—”
“My routine is irrelevant to this conversation.”
“No piece to a puzzle is irrelevant. I don’t even know your name.”
“You seem to think it’s little rebel.”
“What would you prefer I call you?”
“I’d prefer you didn’t call me.”
He laughed. How could he find her stubbornness charming? “Let’s get some sleep. We’ll have several hours of hard hiking tomorrow.”
She followed him silently toward the cabin. She’d already tried using her bladder as an excuse for him to release the wristcuffs, but he’d offered to turn his back and only turn his back.
“I don’t want to sleep with you.”
“All we’re going to do is sleep.” The pressure on the wristcuff increased as she dug in her heels. Ashton turned to face his reluctant companion. Tension twisted her expression and anxiety radiated off her in waves. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
“Maybe not tonight, but you’re going to hurt me.”
Frustrated by the certainty in her voice, Ashton met her gaze. “What do you want me to do? I was dragged into this at weapon point. This is your mess, not mine.”
“I’m not blaming you.”
He stepped toward her. She backed into the wall. “If you told me what you were trying to accomplish with the kidnappings, I might be able to—”
“Why would you help me?” Her gaze narrowed and suspicion stabbed at him, driving him back.
“I’m not making any promises, but I can’t help until I understand more about the conflict.”
She looked away and her emotions softened and curled. A heated wave of excitement ripped through her and washed into him. Ashton hesitated. This was more complex than sexual attraction. His entire body felt attuned to her needs, ready to provide on some elemental level. He shook away the sensation. She was right. He had no reason to get involved.
“I’m trapped,” she whispered. “They expect me to save them.”
She took a deep breath and Ashton felt her emotions stabilize as if she’d raised some intangible barrier. Pushing away from the wall, she eased past him and went into the cabin. He had no choice but to follow.
“Who are ‘they’?” He kept his tone soft and resisted his urge to touch her. Another erotic wrestling match wasn’t what they needed right now.
“My—clients. They know I can’t provide for them forever and I can’t provide for everyone. Still, I see it in their eyes. They expect me to work a miracle, to accomplish what my—what others failed to do.”
“What your…father failed to do?” It was an educated guess, but her cheeks flushed and she quickly averted her face. He sorted through the facts he’d uncovered during his research and the pieces fell into place. “Cordelia Reah? Korbin is your half-brother.”
“Corry. No one calls me Cordelia.”
“It’s nice to finally meet you, Corry.” Unable to resist the impulse any longer, he stroked her cheek with his knuckles. “Kidnapping us was Korbin’s idea, I take it? Your father was a pacifist.”
“And look where that got him. We all know his death wasn’t an accident. The council told him to shut his mouth and when he refused, they shut it for him.” She straightened her shoulders and reinforced her control.
He didn’t bother debating the point. Even his mother had suspicions about the incident. “What will Korbin demand in exchange for Danette and Palmer?”
“I honestly don’t know.” She glanced up at him through her lashes. “Our departure will throw a wrench in things, to say the least. I just hope he doesn’t do something stupid.”
Stupider than kidnapping three highly placed citizens of Halley Prime? Knowing she wouldn’t appreciate his sense of humor, Ashton bit back the sarcastic question. “We’ll just pray we can put out fires faster than your brother can start them.”
She shook her head and sat on the edge of the bunk. “Sometimes I feel like that sums up my life. It was easier when Dad was alive.” One corner of her mouth quirked with the hint of a smile. “We used to gang up on Korbin.”
After so many days of her unflinching spirit, he found her vulnerability endearing. It made him want to shelter her with his mind and body, protect her from anything that might mean her harm. And that included her hotheaded brother.
You don’t realize it yet, sweetheart, but you’re not alone anymore. Again, he didn’t say the words out loud. She wasn’t ready to hear them.
“We really should get some sleep,” he told her instead. “If the land is half as interesting as the topographic scan indicated, we’ve got our work cut out for us tomorrow.”
“Will you release the cuff?” She stared into his eyes with guileless calm.
“Not a chance. I’ve seen that look before.”
Chapter Six
Corry lay on her side in the darkness, crowding as close to the schooner’s wall as she could get. Ashton’s big body hugged her back. He’d slipped one of his arms beneath her neck and their linked hands rested on her pillow. His other hand cupped her breast, making her nipple harden.
Was he awake? Could he sense her restlessness?
“Ashton?” she whispered.
“Corry.” He shifted, pressing his erection against her behind.
Heat spiraled through her body and lodged between her thighs. “I’m not usually like this,” she protested as her core clenched and her clit tingled.
“Fascinating and unpredictable?” He found a bare patch of skin at the nape of her neck and gave it a playful nip. “Or feisty and passionate?”
S
he could hear gentle teasing in his tone. Still, she needed to see his eyes. Squeezing between his chest and the wall, she rolled to her back.
“I’m not ashamed of wanting you,” he told her. “My body reacted instantaneously. It just took longer for my mind to accept what my body recognized.”
She shook her head and glanced away. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You’re special. I sensed it the first time I touched you. There’s more going on here than two lonely people wanting to fuck.”
Dragging her gaze back to his face, she knew the battle was lost. “Only a fool makes the same mistake twice.”
“Maybe it wasn’t a mistake.” He leaned down and covered her mouth with his before she could argue further. Denial was a waste of time when his empathic receptors told him how much she wanted him. She ached for his touch, craving the stunning release she’d only known in his arms.
She tried to touch his face, but the wristcuff brought her up short. He entwined their fingers, anchoring their hands against the pillow.
“You need to say it,” he whispered. His gaze bore into hers, smoldering and caressing. “No more games, no denials. Say, ‘I want you inside me.’”
Her other hand clutched the back of his uniform as he arched over her. This wasn’t about pride or domination. They couldn’t move on until she stopped lying to herself.
“I want you inside me.” Tingles cascaded through her body with the admission.
A sexy smile curved his lips and desire ignited in his eyes. “That’s a good start.” He found the separator and parted the front of her utility suit. The seam opened down her torso and between her thighs. Lifting her hips, she allowed him to divide the material as far back as he could reach.
“Release the cuffs. I can’t touch you like this.” She tugged on the back of his shirt, illustrating her limitation.
“But I can touch you.” He folded back the sides of her suit, framing her naked breasts. “We did this way too fast before.”
While his fingers stroked her breasts and rolled her nipples, he explored her features with featherlight kisses. She refused to accept a completely passive role. Finding the hem of his uniform top, she slipped her hand underneath and splayed her fingers. His back was warm, the muscles bunching and flexing as he held himself above her.