"Have you ever thought of leaving this place?" Cam asked.
"Not immediately," Rominac replied. "One day--who knows? Things may change."
"What things?"
"The way people think. The way of life. Love."
"Love never changes," Jase said.
"When the hell did you get so lachrymose?" Cam queried.
"About the same time your speech became so eloquent."
Simon rolled his eyes. "Someone save me, quick!"
With a grin, Rominac looked at his sister. "Have you traveled with these traders for long?"
"Feels like an eternity." She relaxed, feeling more sure of herself amongst the easy banter.
"I sympathize. So, Garret, you trade for a living?"
Knowing that the Northlander was attempting to turn the conversation into a safer direction, and thereby introduce a non-threatening atmosphere, Garret answered easily, "Aye. ‘Tis something we Daamens are born to do."
"Along with wenching and fighting," Red stated proudly. "We’re amongst the best."
"Oh, do tell," Dana retorted. "But which do you do best? I’d wager ‘tis the wenching."
"What did I say now?"
Amused, Rominac watched the ensuing war of words before turning his attention back to the brown-haired trader. "Do you ever get the urge to settle down?"
Garret allowed his gaze to linger on Dana, who was still arguing with Red. "Aye. Aye, I do, and one day I will settle down and raise a family back home. One day soon."
Rominac understood the longing he saw in the big trader’s eyes immediately. It was a longing he was familiar with himself.
The rest of the evening went uneventfully. Rominac walked them back to the trading ship, holding the reins to the horse that Dana rode upon to avoid putting too much weight on her ankle.
"I will see you in the morning," he promised, kissing her on the cheek and hugging her briefly. "We still have a lot to catch up on."
"I look forward to it," she hugged him back.
~ * ~
Instead of Rominac, a messenger turned up with a sheet of paper.
Peering over her shoulder, Garret read aloud, "‘Something has come up which I must attend to. I’m sorry. Will contact you when I can, though not sure how long it will be. It could be awhile, so don’t wait if you want to leave. Love, your brother, Rominac.’ Must be important."
"Mayhaps." Unaccountably she felt hurt. Why couldn’t he have let her know personally? A note was so... cold. Dismissive. Mayhaps that was it. Her behavior the night before must have disgusted him. What else had she expected? He had a life of his own and there were times she’d come second. Probably most times, after all, they were still virtually strangers. There was still so much she didn’t know about him. It meant only one thing. She had to get on with her own life as well. It felt like betrayal all over again.
"It would have been hard for him to miss seeing you again."
"Time passes and life goes on." She hid the sudden emptiness inside her.
"Lass--"
"Don’t fret, trader. Is it time to leave this place?"
"Aye, we are ready, but--"
"Then let’s go."
Entering the dining cabin, Red heard her last words and raised one brow questioningly at his friend. "Do you want me to start the engines?"
"Are you sure about this, lass?"
"If we stay, it’ll be for your business, not mine."
"Aye, Red, we leave. Tell Simon to set the coordinates for Daamen."
They left within the hour. Diago didn’t come to bid his daughter farewell, Garret noted darkly. Bastard. He worried at how the whole unsettling episode would affect Dana, and found out almost immediately.
She was back to normal, a delightful package of beauty and hot-temper, and he’d wager his life on it, as hot-blooded. But he noticed that she saved her more cutting remarks for him, when not avoiding him altogether. He recognized the strategy of putting emotional distance between them. The lass had no idea of polite courtship.
~ * ~
The closeness she’d started to feel with Rominac had shown her again how much it hurt when someone she cared about simply left with no real explanation. Seeing Diago again, and experiencing anew the feeling of betrayal, had renewed her decision not to get close to the disturbing trader. It was something that had started to happen over the last few days. Her nastiness must be working, Dana told herself, for he didn’t push his presence upon her, although he was still attentive, ensuring she rested often and had everything she needed near to hand.
A week into the journey home found most of the grazes and cuts healed, the bruises fading. Even her ankle felt better and she was able to move around on her own.
Observing her improvement, Garret decided that it was time to stop tiptoeing around and start pursuing her more aggressively. A light touch did no good with the stubborn wench. Her attitude toward him hadn’t softened, and he only had a short time left to change her mind before they landed on Daamen. Being subtle hadn’t worked.
~ * ~
Late that evening he entered the dining cabin to find Dana alone, contemplating a book on the coffee table. It was the perfect opportunity.
"How are you this lovely evening, my little strawberry?"
"It just got worse."
"That exciting, hmm?"
"That boring."
"Then allow me to entertain you."
"I strongly doubt you could do that."
His smile was blinding. "I can think of many ways to relieve your boredom, lass."
The suggestive meaning was not lost on Dana. A warm tingle zipped through her veins, taking her by surprise, and irritating her no end. "No, thanks, I’d rather be bored."
The handsome wretch stepped closer, a gleam in the grey eyes. "You wouldn’t say that if you knew how I mean to entertain you."
Refusing to back away, her heart started to thump faster and harder than normal. "I think I do know what you mean and I find you utterly disgusting, which is nothing unusual." Haughtily she tilted her head back, nose in the air.
It was a gesture that had infuriated more men in the galaxy than she could count on her fingers and toes combined.
He found her disdainful action plain adorable. "I guess it’s up to me to change your opinion, my feisty little wench."
"Nothing you can say could possibly change my mind," she returned loftily, turning away to pick up the book.
"Who said anything about talking? I personally believe in actions, not words."
That shook the little hellcat’s composure.
Instinctively knowing he was approaching, she straightened up, trying to swing back quickly but hampered by her ankle, which was still tender. "Back off, Garret! Don’t you even think--oh!" Her words were cut off in a gasp when she felt herself lifted, swung around and brought up against a massive chest.
His arm around her waist was like a steel band, the hand between her shoulder blades immovable. A rush of heat surged through her blood and all she could do was stare up at him.
All amusement fled his dangerously handsome features, to be replaced with something darker, a hot passion held in tight control, only a fraction of what he felt for her showing.
She could feel his sudden tension, the heat of his bare chest seeping through her vest to curl languidly around her breasts before creeping inside her.
Hells bells, the man was lethal! For ten days he hadn’t touched her in any way intimately, only supporting her limping walks around the ship. Now he held her with every intention of becoming a damn sight more intimate and she didn’t even retaliate as she’d sworn she would!
Rallying her bemused senses, she pressed her hands onto the swell of his deltoids and shoved. "Let go, trader!"
Curse him, he didn’t budge an inch!
"What if I don’t want to, pretty wench?" he drawled in a maddeningly low voice that sent little flickers of flame dancing along her veins.
He was satisfied with the effect he knew he was having on her, seeing the aw
akening desire battling with determined anger. There was no way he was going to allow that anger to win, not with her so warm and soft in his arms, and those generous mounds pressed to his chest, the leather vest unable to disguise the feel of budding nipples pushing so enticingly through it. He lowered his head.
Seeing his intent, she turned her head aside frantically, but one large hand entangled in her tresses to turn her face gently but firmly back to his. "Damn it, Garret, don’t you dare! I’ll--"
Warm lips cut off the protests. She struggled, almost panicking at the fiery heat burning through her from his slow, sensuous kiss. She didn’t want to recognize the desire that flickered within her. She wasn’t affected by his touch, she wasn’t! Her wild thoughts turned hazy. Using all her strength, she pushed at his shoulders.
The wench was strong, no doubt about it, but he was stronger and more determined than ever to make her face the desire that flared so fervently between them. In one lightening move he caught her wrists and imprisoned them behind her in one large hand, using the same hold to press her to him, while keeping his other hand entwined in the thick locks to hold her still for his coaxing mouth.
In one last desperate bid for freedom, Dana jerked her knee up, aiming for a disabling blow to his manhood, but he was waiting for such a move. He effectively blocked it by quickly thrusting his thigh between her straight leg and rising knee, and pushing forward.
As planned, the movement threw her off balance and he kept her tilted off balance, rendering her helpless in his arms.
Raising his head, Garret smiled down at her. "Relax, sweetheart, I promise you’ll enjoy it."
"Damn you, Garret, no! If you kiss me, I swear I’ll--"
"As I’ve said before, that delicious mouth of yours is made for better things than swearing and cursing, and ‘tis my pleasure to show you what those things are, starting with this." He captured her lips again.
Valiantly she fought him, refusing to soften her lips or relax, mentally stamping down the rioting flames that danced on the edges of her awareness. It was a battle she lost. The flames broke through the barriers to flare through her, igniting her passion and torching resistance to ashes. Hot spots exploded where their bodies touched, and the clean masculine scent that was so uniquely his filled her senses. It was a though his very essence had stolen into her body and set every part of it aflame.
With a bittersweet moan, she surrendered.
The moment she gave up the fight, he knew. She became pliant, pressing against him, and the tight lips softened and opened.
Without breaking the contact of their lips, he drew her upright, and was rewarded by her leaning into him, seeking closer contact. Now that he could provide. Releasing her wrists, he wrapped his arms around her and drew her as close to him as he could, surrounding her with his greater strength and build.
Sweeping his tongue inside the sweet cavern of her mouth, he tasted her honeyed essence and inhaled the fragrant scent of her skin. Desire poured like molten lava through his veins as she returned kiss for kiss, her strong, slender arms draped around his neck, and fingers twirling in his long hair. Pulling him closer. His manhood hardened, and cupping one large hand against her buttocks, he jerked her tight against it.
The sweet torture of soft femininity against his hard staff made him growl, a mixture of lust and frustration in one sound, and it wasn’t enough. He wanted--needed--to taste all of the eager, hot wench in his arms.
Dana’s moan of protest when the sensual lips left hers turned to a husky purr when Garret’s mouth trailed down her throat, leaving a burning, damp trail in his wake. His tongue skimmed over the pulse that fluttered wildly, teasing and tasting, before he moved further down to press fiery kisses along one shapely shoulder, then the other, before blazing another burning path up the other side of her throat.
He was driving her wild. A furnace was roaring inside her, a liquid heat, heavy and stirring, forming in that secret place of womanhood, reacting to the throbbing column pressed so intimately against her. Her hands roamed down his arms and around the lean waist, skimming up beneath the loose vest to splay over warm skin and bunched muscle.
God, Garret felt so good. All hard swells and male heat.
Eagerly she mated with his mouth, kissing him back with an unquenchable fire of passion, tightening her arms around his back.
She was like an erupting volcano of sexual intensity, passion unleashed and untamed. It caught him by surprise and he realized, somewhat belatedly, that there was no way he could contain the answering, rising fire flickering within him. He’d intended to be in control, to coax and seduce the lass, but control was slipping away rapidly.
All he wanted to do now was lay--or sit, he really didn’t care--the smoldering beauty down and bury himself in the hot haven of her womanhood, to feel her passage close about him and pull him deeper into the heated depths of her body.
Lifting his head, he scanned the room over her shapely shoulder, but he dismissed the armchairs in an instant as being for slow, leisurely loving. Nay, what he needed was a sturdy surface, one that would hold up beneath the fury of his thrusts, for he knew that when he took the fiery wench, it certainly wasn’t going to be a gentle session.
Nay, it was going to be hard, fast and hot.
He couldn’t wait.
Glancing over his own broad shoulder, his gaze fell on the wooden table. Solid. Sturdy. Unmovable. Excellent.
He started to turn his head back toward Dana, but a flicker of movement caught his eyes and instantly he looked toward the dining cabin doorway.
A grinning Cam gave him the victory sign before Simon reached past to yank the door shut.
The thump of it closing brought him to his senses. Good God, he’d been all set to make love to Dana on the dining cabin table in full sight of anyone passing the door! It’s not supposed to happen like this!
With a groan he released her, stepping back and whirling away, his fists clenched and teeth gritted, gathering the shattered remains of his control up with an iron will.
Dazed, Dana stared at his back. Fire still sizzled in her veins and she desperately missed the feel of his body against hers, the strong arms and sensuous mouth. She wanted him and...she loved him. All this time she’d tried to deny it but now it had to be acknowledged. But love was a risk of pain. He lusted after her, that was all, and she’d been so willing to give herself to him, swept away by passion. And now he’d turned away and left her arms empty. What else had she expected? Hadn’t life already taught her the fickleness of men?
Licking lips swollen from his kisses, she found her voice, husky as it was. "So now you have the response you sought, do you feel better?"
Better? He groaned inwardly. He didn’t have half what he wanted from her, but if she stayed around much longer, he’d grab her and take what he wanted. "I think you’d better leave, Dana."
"Leave?"
"Now."
"I see." The words were cool, all passion erased. "One thing, Garret, before I go."
Rigidly he stared at the wall, struggling to control what little will he had left. "Aye?"
"At least have the decency to face me. You owe me that."
Owe her? What harebrained idea did the wench have under her blonde locks now?
He started to turn, only to be met with a painful blow to the jaw and a burst of stars before his eyes. The fury and frustration behind the punch was enough to actually make him stagger back.
"Shit!" Coming to a halt, one hand on his throbbing jaw, he stared at the enraged warrior. "What the hell was that for?"
Resisting the impulse to shake bruised knuckles, Dana snarled, "Don’t you ever touch me again, understand? I don’t play your games!"
"Games?" Astonishment filled him. "I was not playing games!"
"You got what you wanted. You had me panting after you like a bitch hound in heat! You have proved your point. It’s the last time!" Rapidly she limped from the cabin, nearly tearing the door from its hinges in fury when she wrenched it op
en.
Garret was alone and bewildered. What the hell was she on about? What game did she accuse him of playing? And what point had he proven? Even worse, why would she compare herself to a bitch hound in heat...
Realization dawned with horror, and with a groan he bolted from the dining cabin just in time to hear her cabin door slam shut.
He was about to head down there when a sympathetic voice came from the platform lift. "‘Tis probably wisest to let her cool down, my friend."
Coming to a halt, he leaned against the corridor wall. "Damn it, Simon, I’ve just made things worse between us! What was I thinking?"
Simon grinned as he approached. "What you were thinking was plain as day when you looked at the table."
"It didn’t go as planned, that’s for sure." Garret ran one hand through his hair and sighed. "I thought I had it all under control but..."
"When you feel desire for a lass, ‘tis hard to control yourself. When the wench is as fiery as Dana, well." Simon shook his dark head. "‘Tis not so hard to understand."
"I have to talk to her. She has the wrong idea completely."
"Good luck. I’ll be on standby with the medipack."
"Ha-ha. Do me a favor. Take a walk in space without the suit."
Before he could start towards the cabin, Red’s voice sounded over the intercom. "You’d better come down to the engine room, Cap’n."
"What’s wrong?"
"The warning lights are flickering on and off."
Great, one more problem. "And this means what?"
"If we can’t find the problem, the electrical interference could short circuit the computers.
We’ll be floating in space with no shield for defense in case of attack from space pirates, and no power to outrun them."
"Damn!" He cast the closed door to Dana’s cabin a resigned look. "Very well, I’m coming."
~ * ~
It was midnight when he finally walked wearily back to his cabin. It was too late to talk to her now, for she’d be asleep and would certainly not appreciate being awoken. He decided to wait until morning.
Thirteen
He never got the chance, for he was awakened by hearty laughter and many voices early the next morning.
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