by test
She hooked her arm through her sister’s. Johanna would occupy her mind so she wouldn’t be able to obsess about Tyler. That was what sisters were for after all. Johanna guided her through the massive ship and she smiled, realizing what a crappy sense of direction she had.
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Whatever would she do without Johanna?
“Lord Devlin is here onboard The Emerald Star,” Johanna whispered.
Her mouth dropped open. Shit. That wasn’t something she needed, right at the moment.
She turned around to make sure that Tyler still followed them. She instinctively wanted to get him to safety, despite their recent angry exchange. Her eyes darted back to her sister, and she fortified herself, for what was to come.
“Do you think we can get Tyler back to The Excalibur without Lord Devlin noticing?”
A flash of pain touched her temple. “Oh, no, we need to turn around and move fast, Johanna. Lord D is right around the corner....” But her warning came too late. Damn.
They skidded to a halt just in front of Lord Devlin. She regarded him coolly, and discreetly glanced behind her. Butterflies swarmed through her stomach.
Tyler was gone! She relaxed slightly, until the Red Falcon appeared, and pulled her urgently against him.
He kissed her passionately. She had caught the knowing hint in his blue eyes, which kept her from beating him black and blue.
For the sake of Tyler, she kept her anger in check, and even dramatized the effect further, by sinking into his embrace. He nestled her against his chest, and then turned her around, and looped his arms possessively around her.
“Bloody Brilliant,” she muttered between breaths, staring unwaveringly at Lord Devlin.
* * * *
“Well, that was most assuredly something I had never expected to see. Not even in my wildest dreams,” Lord Devlin murmured, glinting his piercing blue eyes in Johanna’s direction.
“It’s good to see that you’re finally getting some action, Danny.”
Samantha gave Lord Devlin a look that could kill. She wanted to throttle the pompous man. She was slowly simmering on the inside, and knew that she would soon have acid reflux.
She reviled the man standing nonchalantly in front of her. Even more annoying was the approving full body inspection that he gave her sister. She wanted to slap him across his smug little face. But she could sense The Red Falcon silently imploring her to behave.
The Red Falcon probably had a point. She couldn’t keep a ghost of a smile appearing across her features when he squeezed her hand. She didn’t know if she could trust him completely, but between Lord Devlin and The Red Falcon, she would be inclined to choose the Falcon if she was ever in a pinch.
He had just saved their butts, and if she succeeded in controlling her hot head, she might just get Tyler out of this whole convoluted mess. She didn’t know how she’d swing it, but hell, she was really good at plucking fat white rabbits out of a magician’s hat.
Samantha frantically wondered where Tyler had disappeared to, and was tempted to look behind her once again, when she remembered the Falcon’s transporter system. Tyler could be anywhere and at the moment the Falcon was the only one that knew his whereabouts. Which meant, she had to stay really close to the Falcon if she ever wanted to see Tyler again. The question was, did she really want to see Tyler again?
“Thank you, Devlin,” the Red Falcon responded.
He sounded as if he had sand paper lodged in his mouth. Samantha stared up at him, and noticed the slight twitch in his jaw.
So, the ever-cool Falcon had a difficult time remaining calm as well. She snorted, finally comprehending the irony of the situation. The Red Falcon couldn’t even stand his mentor and yet because he felt obligated to him he put up with his stupid shenanigans.
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She smiled, and felt something resembling grudging respect well inside of her. If her circumstances had been altogether different and she hadn’t already met and fallen in love with Tyler, she would’ve been liable to tempt fate, and risked losing her heart to this scoundrel. He certainly had one multi-faceted personality. His complexities would probably keep her entertained for a lifetime.
“Johanna, I had reports that you and your sister had rescued Tyler Cassidy from the authorities,” Lord Devlin stated.
Samantha’s world dropped out from beneath her. This was one man she didn’t want to do the dance with. He was trouble. Big fat trouble.
He completely ignored her, and addressed Johanna, which caused Samantha’s dislike for him to grow tenfold. She didn’t like being treated as if she’d suddenly become invisible. Lord Devlin was at it again. Just because he was a titled English Lord, with a posh British accent didn’t mean he could act superior to others. Bloody fat head, that’s what he had.
“But I must have been mistaken. Your sister seems far too busy entertaining my lad to have been involved in such a ludicrous escapade.” Lord Devlin swiveled his gaze over to land on Samantha. She resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at him.
Johanna gave Samantha a cautionary look, which blatantly told her to keep her mouth shut. Actually, come to think of it, Johanna gave her that particular look a lot. Which was kind of insulting, now that she reflected upon it. She knew when to keep her mouth shut. Well, maybe she slipped now and then, but honestly.
Samantha stiffened her spine. She could sense and almost hear The Red Falcon imploring her to keep a level head. She imagined shoving Lord Devlin’s over sized head up his butt, and suppressed a giggle when she realized that in all probability it had a permanent spot of lodging there already.
She grimaced, and attempted to bring herself down to earth. She was afraid to open her mouth, lest she betray herself and fumble by telling him to screw off. For once, she stepped back and wisely allowed the other adults to do the talking. Though she briefly reconsidered her decision when Lord Devlin opened his mouth again.
“If Samantha is anything like she is out of bed, then she must be a firecracker in bed. I’m quite certain she can put her body into some pretty interesting positions, I do envy you, Danny,”
Lord Devlin purred, causing Samantha to almost blow a gasket. The lights in the hallway dimmed. Cool air rushed toward them. Lord Devlin looked surprised and a little apprehensive.
He gave her a curious gaze.
That was it!
“Bring it down a bloody notch. I don’t know what you have burning inside of you, Samantha but cut it out!” The Red Falcon hissed in her ear, low enough that Johanna and Lord Devlin would not overhear. She was going to rearrange Lord Devlin’s face, and then make sure that she ripped him a new.... Her thoughts were interrupted when Johanna jumped to her defense, proving she had finally lost any lasting fondness that she may have been harboring for the dirty bastard.
“Why don’t you stuff a sock in it, Devlin,” Johanna fumed, stamping the floor. She walked up to him, and glared at him with as much detestation as she could possibly muster.
Samantha was delighted by her sister’s public display of abhorrence and wanted to run over and kiss and hug her. Instead, she waited on baited breath for her sister to knock Lord Devlin down a few more notches.
He blanched visibly, and puckered his brows slightly, sticking his lip out in a pout. She RECKLESS BOUNTY Marly Mathews 77
was taken aback by the unexpected change Johanna had wrought in the conceited man.
She’d expected him to retort with an incensed quip, and yet here he stood seemingly hurt by what Johanna had said. Perhaps, he was sincere in his affections for her sister. Ah, well.
Johanna was married to Dylan now, so Devlin was shit out of luck. Samantha was quite perplexed by his reaction, and stared over expectantly at her sister, who didn’t seem ready to relent. Go, Johanna, Go! Damn, she wished she had some pom-poms.
“You are a great big bully, Devlin, and I just want you to know we will not be affected by your brutish attitude.” Johanna looked about r
eady to strike Devlin. Samantha wished she would.
That would make her day.
Samantha and the Red Falcon watched Johanna at her very best. She would stick with her sister through thick and thin, but in all of their years together she’d never seen Johanna so inspired to make another person feel like he was two feet tall.
Then Lord Devlin’s eyes flickered to Samantha, and he seemed to regain some of his former cockiness. The asshole had returned. He acknowledged her out loud for the first time, scratching his chin thoughtfully.
“Then I trust, Samantha, that you will not mind if I search your ship to verify the fact you haven’t anything to hide.” He slanted his mouth into a smug grin, while a flicker of jealousy flashed in his eyes.
She stared unbelievably at him, and felt a coldness overtake her. It hit her like a punch to the gut, as she realized she was still in New Monaco’s airspace, and technically she was still under New Monaco jurisdiction. This was why when she’d first met Devlin a few years ago, she’d wanted as far away from him as possible. He was like playing with fire…and she didn’t want to get burned by him…if she did get burned there would be no turning back.
And since, Lord Devlin ran the crime-infested planet, she would have to acquiesce or face a severe fine or punishment. She couldn’t push her luck. They didn’t have much money left, and well the punishment thing wasn’t an option. She’d have Devlin at her mercy, before that came to pass. Samantha swallowed past the barbed wire in her throat, and tried to hide her true feelings.
Please God, let what I am about to say not come back to bite me in the ass!
She stared up at the Red Falcon for some kind of confirmation. She felt quite sure that as long as the Red Falcon needed Tyler’s information, he’d protect his investment. For once in her life she was thinking rationally. Her mother would be proud.
She breathed deeply, praying that her hunch was correct. She had never been so insecure before, and she hid it by using her rather colorful mouth on Lord Devlin. Her mouth was her greatest gift, and her greatest curse, when used unwisely that is.
“Kiss my ass, Lord Devlin,” she drawled out. Drawing another breath, she prepared to do her worst. “But since I am in such a charitable mood, I shall allow you to have full access to my ship. You may even inspect my toilets, if you feel the need.”
She started to head in one direction, and was subtly pushed in the other direction by the Red Falcon. Like she’d admitted before, she had a shitty sense of direction.
“It’s this way,” he murmured, in her ear.
She smiled sheepishly and gave him a glance of appreciation. “I knew that.”
Johanna snorted, and tried stifling it with the back of her hand. Johanna gave her a searching gaze, and Samantha mouthed the words ‘trust me.’
She was just about to place her faith in a pirate’s hands and she prayed that she wouldn’t be dealing with the brutal blow of betrayal. But she had a fifty, fifty chance so her odds were RECKLESS BOUNTY Marly Mathews 78
good.
Ah, what the hell. What have you got to lose, Samantha? Everything. She answered feeling the trepidation nearly bring her to her knees.
* * * *
Samantha pushed herself ahead of Lord Devlin just before they reached The Excalibur. It hadn’t been necessary to use the Red Falcon’s transporter system, since The Excalibur had docked in The Emerald Star’s massive docking bay.
She tapped her fingers restlessly against her side, frowning when Dylan greeted them in an overtly defensive manner.
His aquamarine eyes searched his wife’s, and Samantha followed the exchange with a sense of exasperation. They didn’t have anything to be concerned about. If Dylan was worried that Johanna was going to leave him or something he couldn’t be further off track.
Samantha moved past Dylan, and watched Lord Devlin crinkle his nose in disgust. “Well, this place hasn’t changed. It still looks as if it should be in a spaceship junkyard.”
“Now see here, Lord Devlin,” Samantha said, extenuating every single word. “I will not tolerate you patronizing my ship. Everything can’t live up to your stuck up expectations. You are here onboard my ship for one reason alone, and that isn’t to assign our ship a Lord Devlin approval rating. So move it, before I’m tempted to make you lose it.”
She sniffed the air, and for the first time noticed the quiet guards flanking them. One of them wore cheap perfume. She sneezed, and was caught off guard when Lord Devlin offered her his handkerchief. She took it and blew her nose, then didn’t know what to do with it.
“Keep it,” Lord Devlin clipped out.
They were now in the hallway that led to the private living quarters. Samantha let out a loud groan, when he tried opening one of the guest rooms.
“Lucy, kindly open the door,” Samantha murmured, genuinely hoping that her husband wasn’t inside.
Lord Devlin stared over in victory at Samantha, and her stomach rolled as she attempted to keep her cookies right where they were.
“I can’t comply, Samantha. The inhabitants have ordered complete privacy mood. I don’t disobey such commands. I am an obedient, AI,” Lucy answered in a matter-of-fact tone.
Lucy sounded as if she believed Samantha had completely lost her senses.
“Obedient, AI, my arse. If you don’t comply, I’ll have you ejected from The Emerald Star and blown into next Sunday,” Lord Devlin threatened.
“Well, since it’s Friday already, what kind of a threat is that?” Samantha asked. “You definitely need to come up with some new material.” Samantha had had enough! That was it, she’d bloody his proper pinched up face, and make him sorry he’d ever patronized her in the first place. She had just about taken it upon herself to do just that, when she felt The Red Falcon’s steadying hand.
Samantha stared over at Dylan incomprehensibly. He moved toward the master control outside of the door. “Dylan!”
“Lord Devlin wants to be allowed inside. I say we give him whatever he wants, within reason,” Dylan muttered. “And if he likes surprises, this will be right up his alley.” Dylan reconfigured the command, and made sure Lucy forgot the whole uncomfortable incident.
The door quickly opened and everyone let out shocked exclamations at the rowdy display of sexual intercourse that met their eyes.
“I so didn’t need to see that. That image will be ingrained in my memory for days… and I RECKLESS BOUNTY Marly Mathews 79
can’t wash out my mind with soap,” Samantha managed to say. She turned around, smiling when she heard Lord Devlin’s outraged cry.
“Where are you hiding HIM?” Lord Devlin demanded, striding over to Samantha, and grabbing her by the shoulders.
He shook her and then well, she lost it. And she bit her lips as everything around them went straight to hell.
* * * *
Veronica came lunging out of the bedroom. She was by now wearing a pair of jeans and a tank top, and Ross was still mumbling and lumbering around back inside of the room, struggling to get his clothes on.
Samantha couldn’t seem to shake the picture of his large backside that had been burned into her mind. Johanna, reached for Samantha, just as Veronica’s fist connected with Lord Devlin’s jaw.
Lord Devlin staggered back, and then Samantha moved forward, to knee him, when Veronica jumped on his back. He whirled around with Veronica screaming like a banshee trying desperately to shake her off.
“For the love of God! Woman, get off of me! ” he ordered, still trying to rip her from his back.
“I got to hand it to you, Veronica! You are one determined little cookie. Oops, I meant big cookie!” Veronica tossed her a dirty look.
“I’ll show you what happens when my privacy is invaded by a sick son of a bitch!”
“Let me know if you need any assistance, Big V.” Samantha stepped out of the way, watching the show with immense enjoyment.
For once in Samantha’s life, she actually discovered that she and Veronica had a common foe. A bond was fo
rged between them.
“Danny,” he grunted.
When Samantha looked around for the Red Falcon she discovered he had made a beeline to make himself scarce. He should’ve taken her with him. Jerk.
“I am going to break this back of yours, Lord Asshole,” Veronica screamed.
“You tell him, girl. Would you like some more help?” Samantha offered.
She watched the entertaining scene with a sense of contentment. For once in her life, she actually admired Veronica. She felt like worshipping the woman. Veronica clawed at Lord Devlin’s pretty boy face, until he finally succeeded in throwing her off of him.
As Veronica clattered against the floor, Ross came charging out of the room. “Oh, excellent. Here comes the raging bull,” Samantha said, enjoying her running commentary of the unfolding events. If Samantha judged Lord Devlin’s reaction accurately enough she swore he’d just lost control of his bodily functions. She could’ve sworn Ross’s weight had tipped The Excalibur slightly. Ross had to learn not to run on The Excalibur. She couldn’t risk him breaking her ship, by accident. They didn’t have broken by a raging bull insurance.