Return to Dark Earth

by Anna Hackett

  “Well,” he managed, when he could finally speak again. He stroked a hand down her bare back, tracing the knobs of her spine.

  “Hmm.” She stretched against him and, shockingly, he felt his cock twitch. Hell, he didn’t think he’d ever recovered that quickly before. Not even as a teen.

  “I always knew it would be good, but this—” he slid his hand up to the back of her neck, flicking at the ends of her hair “—was kind of off the charts.”

  She lifted her head. “You didn’t mind that I like to be on top?”

  “Whatever works for you works for me. Watching that sleek body of yours above me is no hardship.”

  She smiled. Then she moved her hips against his now-hardening cock. “And it looks like you’re ready for round two.”

  ***

  “Yes, right there, Niklas.”

  Nera stood in the small confines of the shower, the plas tiles cool behind her back, her hands tangled in Niklas’ dark hair. He was on his knees, his clever mouth between her thighs, the steamy mist bathing them. His tongue stabbed inside her, before he pulled back and found her clit. God, the sensations were unlike anything she’d ever experienced.

  For a long time, Nera had equated sex with pain and domination. It had taken years, but she’d learned it could be pleasurable—although she still preferred to be in control. But that was less about her past and more about who she was.

  But with Niklas, she felt safe enough to lose herself…just a little bit. He made her feel so damn much…exhilarating, overwhelming feelings, like she could shatter apart like a supernova.

  He sucked on her clit and her hands tightened in his hair. She gave one strangled cry as her body contracted, then splintered. She cried out, knew she must be hurting him, even as she tugged on his hair.

  A moment later, the water shut off, and then he was lifting her into his arms. Good thing, because she didn’t think she could walk.

  He took two strides and set her bare ass on the tiny sink.

  He moved between her legs, nudged her thighs apart. With one hand, he fisted his cock. It was swollen and huge. He pressed the head against her and waited.

  She looked at his face, the strained lines and tight jaw.

  “Nera?”

  God, could this man get any more perfect? And damned if he didn’t read her like an open holo-book.

  “Yes, Niklas. Fill me up.”

  “Watch,” he whispered.

  She looked down and watched the first inch of him disappear inside her. Then the second. Even after the orgasms he’d already given her, she still felt him stretch her. He moved until their bodies met, his cock lodged deep inside her. He gripped her hips, thrusting in and out of her. For a second, she felt dominated, out of control. She felt her muscles stiffening.

  “Put your hands on your head,” she rasped out.

  He eyed her for a second, then let her go. He put his hands behind his head. She gripped his hips now, her legs wrapping around his waist. She urged him to keep moving and he did. He slammed in and out of her, his grunts growing deeper.

  Another few thrusts and she started to come. She let her head drop back, her breasts arching forward.

  “Nera.” Just her name, and a second later he slammed deep and stayed there as he spilled himself inside her.

  Lost in the haze of pleasure, she couldn’t move. He shifted, and she didn’t like it when he slipped out of her. Then he was scooping her up—what was it about a big, strong man carrying you around that made you feel so…cherished? He laid her on the bed.

  He settled on his back and tugged her into his side.

  “I’m sorry,” she said.

  “For what?” his voice was lazy.

  “For…not letting you touch me the way you want to.”

  He went still for a second, then he hugged her closer. “I’ll take you as you are, Nera. I’m not asking you to be anything else.”

  She smiled. “Then maybe sometime I’ll let you touch me…if it suits me.”

  His arm tightened on her. “All I want is your pleasure. If me keeping my hands out of the way achieves that, it isn’t a problem.”

  She rubbed her cheek against the warm skin of his chest. He was so damned good. He deserved so much better than her. But for now, he was hers, and she would do everything she had to do to keep him safe.

  Chapter Fourteen

  As Niklas walked alongside Nera the next morning, he felt sated and relaxed…but he had more than a few aches. The scratches on his back stung, he had a handful of bite marks, and his muscles were aching. None of it had anything to do with escaping from rampaging zombies. He smiled. He’d never felt better.

  He glanced to the right and studied her lean profile. God, he wanted to hold her hand—like a lovestruck teenager. But he knew she’d never allow it, and he’d never do anything to jeopardize the badass reputation she’d worked so hard to build.

  Her head turned and when she saw him staring, her lips quirked upward. “The ship’s underway.”

  He nodded. “I felt the engines start up a few hours ago.”

  “Then let’s get to Avril’s planning meeting and find out where we’re headed next.”

  “You snuck out while I was in the shower.”

  She nodded and eyed the empty corridor. “I went to see Alarah.”

  He tried to read her even tone. “How is she?”

  Nera’s face hardened. “Broken.” She dragged in a breath. “No.” One determined word. “She isn’t broken. Not irreparably. I’ll make sure she has a chance to make it.”

  Outside the door to the library, he heard the murmur of voices. They paused, and because he couldn’t stop himself, he allowed himself to run his hand down her back. “You aren’t alone. Whatever help you need, you let me know.”

  She didn’t look at him this time, but once again, her lips flicked into a small smile.

  They walked in side by side.

  Avril glanced up, the light from the holo-table illuminating her face. Her gaze flicked between the two of them. “Nice of you to join us.”

  Nera stepped forward, a cool smile on her face. “Cheating death leaves you with this intense need to—” she ran a proprietary hand down Nik’s arm “—celebrate still being alive.”

  Nik barely controlled his jerk of surprise. He heard Solomon turn a laugh into a cough, and Gunn was looking at Niklas like he was crazy.

  Solomon cleared his throat. “Phoenix, you have balls of steel.”

  Nera swiveled. “You want to say that again?” her voice was deadly soft.

  “Ah…no.” The young man sank back against the wall. “I really don’t.”

  Avril sniffed. “I suggest we all focus on the plan for the remainder of this expedition.”

  They all moved around the holo-table. A huge, illuminated map of the region filled the surface, and Nik spotted the blue arrow that indicated the Drake. “Where are we headed?”

  “South,” Avril answered. “Agent Ryant and his team worked through the day to load the artifacts from the New Mexico City Museum.”

  Gunn started. “They’ve been out there?” He stabbed a finger at the window. “Do they have a death wish? No way, I’m not getting paid enough to tangle with those fucking man-eating freakshows.”

  “The team has been taking precautions. Using strong spotlights and snipers. It’s their job.” Her gaze narrowed on Gunn. “Let them do theirs, and you do yours.” She smiled at Niklas. “I’m sure you’ll be thrilled to hear the Sun Stone was loaded and is in pristine condition.”

  His heart kicked in his chest. Yeah, he was. He itched to get a good look at it. “That’s good news.”

  “I also asked them to gather any data they could get on the…zombies. We might encounter them again, so any information we can compile could give us an advantage.”

  “They don’t like high-pitched noises,” Nera added. “We could use that as a deterrent.”

  “Noted. I’ll pass the information on.” Avril shook her head, pressing her palms t
o the edge of the table. “I really hope we won’t see any more of them, or at least not so many.”

  Nik thought that was wishful thinking. There had been zombies in New York, in that chasm. He was certain of it. But for whatever reason, they hadn’t attacked. He was worried the creatures, or at least some of them, were far more intelligent than they thought.

  “Real lucky you didn’t get eaten by a zombie, Phoenix.”

  Gunn’s sarcastic tone pulled Nik from his thoughts and made his jaw tighten. He felt Nera move and put a hand on her arm. “Screw you, Gunn. I know what you did. I won’t forget it.”

  Avril frowned. “What’s going on?”

  “Nothing,” Nik answered, his gaze boring into Gunn’s muddy eyes. “It’s a very uninteresting story about an unintelligent, little coward. I wouldn’t want to bore you.”

  Gunn’s face twisted and he strode forward. “People like you make me sick, Phoenix.” Gunn spat the words. “You think you’re so smart, so much better than everyone else. You’ve had everything given to you on a damn platter.” He shoved Nik in the chest.

  Nik tightened his hold on Nera’s arm, very afraid she was going to explode forward and kill Gunn. When she stayed still, he released her. Anger was an ugly ball in his chest. Because of Gunn’s childish antics, Nera had almost died in that damn museum. Nik shoved Gunn back…hard.

  “You’re deluded. I’ve fought for everything I’ve ever wanted. My brothers, too. Life isn’t easy, Gunn. You have to work for what you want, but that doesn’t mean kicking every person around you in the face while you do it.”

  Gunn quivered. “You don’t know what it is to fight. To have no bed to sleep in. To live in the streets and eat garbage. To be prey for every pervert and killer around. To have to be meaner than everyone just to survive.” The man’s chest heaved and he suddenly realized everyone was watching him. He drew in a ragged breath, then his trademark smirk covered his face. “You fight for everything you want, huh? Except that plush job you had at the Institute. That slipped through your fingers. Didn’t fight for that, did you?”

  Nik froze, the words punching him low in the gut. With a swagger, Gunn crossed the room and dropped into a chair.

  “Okay, I think that’s more than enough.” Avril pressed her hands to the holo-table. “If we can please shelve personal problems and focus on the hunt.”

  “You did what you had to do,” Nera murmured for Nik’s ears only.

  “I left,” he murmured. “I walked away and did nothing.”

  “Niklas—”

  He straightened. “But not now.” He looked down at her. “Not one of the artifacts from this trip is getting lost or sold. Everything we find will be seen by the people of the galaxy. I’ll make sure of it.”

  She inclined her head.

  For now, all he could focus on was the hunt. He headed for the holo-table and raised his voice. “So, we’re headed south. Where?”

  “We’re traveling along the west coast of what were the American continents.” Avril traced her finger across the holo-table and a golden line appeared behind it. “I believe we are currently over what was once Panama, in Central America. So far, the jungle has taken over.” She frowned. “The conditions are not…optimal. Extremely dense vegetation and large…animal signatures.”

  “What are you thinking for the next exploration site?” Solomon asked.

  “That’s why you are all here. You’ve all postulated some interesting locations to the south. It’s time to pick one.”

  Gunn crossed his beefy arms over his chest. “Rio de Janeiro.”

  Solomon snorted. “That was picked clean before the Terrans even left Earth. How about Peru?”

  Nik nodded. “It had a rich history and was the center of the ancient Inca culture. But I’ve seen partial e-docs that say it suffered heavy bombing.” He glanced at Nera. She stood by the window, seemingly ignoring them all. Although he guessed differently. “Nera?”

  “Lima,” she said. “It had the greatest concentration of museums.”

  Avril looked like she wanted to disagree on principle, but she grudgingly gave a nod and tapped the map. “A strong potential. The National Museum was renowned as the best.”

  “While that was true,” Nik said, “it was a large public museum. It was much more likely to have had artifacts evacuated and sent off-planet. My research has led me to believe the city also had a large number of well-funded, private museums that housed rich collections.”

  Avril’s gaze narrowed. “You have a particular one in mind.”

  “Yes. The Larco,” he answered.

  She frowned. “The Larco? The name sounds familiar, but I don’t know anything about it.”

  “A wealthy private collector started it to house his extensive collection of pre-Columbian artifacts.”

  “Pre-Columbian?” Solomon said.

  “Artifacts from all the cultures that lived in the region before Europeans arrived. Not just the Inca,” Nik clarified. “While the state museums were being emptied out, I suspect the Larco was largely ignored, despite its excellent collection of ceramics, and gold and silver. I think it’s worth a look.”

  Avril tapped the holo-table. “Computer, run search for all relevant data on the Larco. Everything you have, its collections, layout and coordinates.”

  “Searching…” the melodious computer voice responded.

  A moment later, the holo-screen changed, the map shrinking into one corner and images and data records filling the screen.

  “It was a beautiful building,” Avril said.

  The image was of the museum in its heyday. It had been housed in a historic building with a cream-colored exterior and beautiful wooden double doors at the front. Lush gardens were just visible surrounding it.

  “I found references to the building being eighteenth-century,” Nik said. “And possibly built on an ancient Incan site. It seems a safe bet that the jungle has taken it and the remains of the city back.” Nik touched the screen. “Here were the main star attractions of the Larco. The Gold and Silver Gallery.”

  “Now, that sounds more like it,” Gunn muttered.

  Nik ignored the interruption. “And the pre-Columbian Erotic Ceramics Gallery.”

  Solomon snorted. “Come again?”

  “Did you say erotic?” Nera asked.

  Nik grinned at her. “Yes. Apparently, the ancient Peruvians crafted thousands of ceramic pots depicting different sexual acts.”

  She shook her head with a smile.

  “The collection was apparently popular—”

  “I’ll bet,” Solomon interjected.

  “—mainly because the very religious Spanish conquerors who captured the region destroyed any erotic ceramics they discovered.”

  “I remember now—” Avril tapped the screen “—why the Larco sounded familiar.” Her face lit up. “It was said they had a map, created by a former Naval officer by the name of Blake. There’s a legend, that Blake and another man, Chapman, supposedly found the Lost Inca Gold.”

  Gunn leaned forward. “How much gold we talking about? Terran gold is worth a hell of a lot of e-creds.”

  Avril shot him an annoyed look. “I care about the historical value of the artifacts, Mr. Gunn. A treasure trove of hidden Inca artifacts, from a fascinating time in Earth’s history, would be a boon to our cultural heritage.”

  Nik frowned, studying Avril’s face. She was pumped full of enthusiasm. “The Lost Inca Gold was lost even in Terran times. A myth, a legend.”

  “Even I’ve heard the legend,” Solomon said. “The invading Spanish took the Inca emperor hostage. He promised them a mountain of gold in return for his life. But the Spanish killed him, and the emperor’s loyal general, already coming with the gold, hid it in a cave in the mountains, instead.”

  “A nice myth,” Nera said. “I’ve heard versions of the same thing in about half-a-dozen different systems. Lost treasure of immense value hidden in a cave. It isn’t particularly original.”

  “And yet, it
seems many Terrans did try to find it,” Nik said. “None of them returned alive.” He speared Avril with a hard look. “You really think we can just waltz in here, after thousands of years, and find it ourselves?”

  “I think if we find any data pertaining to the Lost Gold, it’s worth a shot. We have enhanced technology and some of the best experts at finding treasure. Those ancient explorers died because they had to contend with trekking through wild jungle. We can fly right to the coordinates.”

  “I didn’t think you would catch the treasure-hunting bug, Avril,” Nik said. “We should stick to well-known areas, where the possibility of finds is greatest. Traipsing into an irradiated jungle filled with who-knows-what sounds like a death wish.”

  “Your input is noted.” Avril smiled at the others. “Okay, the Larco Museum is our next destination.” She looked at the holo-table. “Computer, calculate how long to arrive at the Larco.”

  “Three hours.”

  “Excellent. Okay, I know some of us have rested.” She cast Nera a pointed look.

  Nera raised a brow. “No, I didn’t.”

  Nik hid a smile.

  Avril’s lips flattened into a hard line. “Everyone, get some rest. We’ll assess the conditions when we arrive, but we have to assume there may be zombies, so we’ll go in once the sun has risen in the morning.”

  Everyone left the room and eventually, Nik found himself at the front of the ship in the observation lounge. Stretched across the front of the room was a rounded window of synth glass that even extended across the floor for several meters. He stood on the glass, looking down at the twisted black jungle below.

  The jungle looked completely impenetrable. Thick, twisting vines climbed through warped, distorted trees. He could only guess what kind of nasty things the vegetation was hiding. Every now and then, he spied ruins. Broken structures poking above the dark foliage. Remnants of a forgotten world.

  He looked to the right, and caught sight of the black vastness of the ocean. It lapped angrily against black-sand beaches, and, in the distance, it stretched out to the horizon.

  He didn’t hear her, but he knew when Nera joined him. It was like he was attuned to her presence.