No Quarter (Bounty, Book One)

by d'Abo, Christine

  Spinning the seat around, he looked at the room again, this time with an eye for anything out of the ordinary. Gar was a loner, apparently had no addictions and lived a minimalistic life if the rest of the ship was anything like this room. The boy needed to have some fun! Faolan couldn’t have lived like this—he’d die from the monotony of it all. Fucking, fighting and flying his ship was what ruled his current life. Mix in raids on Loyalist ships and colonies and he had everything a man with no future could ever want.

  As the minutes passed, Faolan was almost resolved to not finding out Gar’s secret—because everyone had at least one—before the hunter came back. When his gaze landed on the silver panel alongside the computer terminal, he knew he’d found what he was looking for.

  Something unusual.

  Faolan dropped to his knees as he pulled out a black-bladed knife from his boot. The panel fell away surprisingly easy given the nature of Gar’s security protocols. What he wasn’t expecting to see was the old-fashioned safe embedded in the wall. No bio scanner, just an old spin dial combination. Honestly, the idea was brilliant. Most criminals wouldn’t have a clue how the combination lock worked, let alone how to get past it.

  Thankfully, Faolan wasn’t the average criminal.

  Cracking his fingers, he leaned in until his ear rested just above the dial. He knew the basic principle of the thing—turn the dial until you hit the correct number, then go in the opposite direction. Simple. However, the sheer number of numeric combinations would drive away most people.

  Setting the dial to start at zero, he closed his eyes and listened for the steady clicking of the locking mechanism. He, like many of his race, had exceptional hearing, so he was able to recognize the louder snap of the barrel when he hit the right number. Grinning, it took only a few minutes more to find the other numbers. Leaning back, Faolan took a deep breath before cracking the rusty metal door open.

  His smile quickly morphed into a scowl as he peered inside, not quite sure what he was looking at. Devoid of anything precious, like credits, drugs or weapons, the only thing Faolan could see was an old personal picture display unit and a small metal object. Ignoring the sentimental trinkets, he snatched the other item and rose to his feet.

  A watch?

  The metal was pitted and discolored along the back and strap. The glass of the face was worn, giving it a fogged appearance. The second hand wasn’t moving, instead it stood at attention pointing straight up. Wait…no, it wasn’t a second hand. No other hand existed, confusing the hell out of Faolan. What good was a watch you couldn’t tell time with? For that matter, what good was a watch based on planetary solar cycle when you lived on a spaceship?

  Faolan flipped it over and around in his hand, wondering about the history of the thing. What the hell was a bounty hunter doing with something as antiquated as this anyway?

  Shifting his weight to so it rested on his back leg, he didn’t notice the blade of Gar’s knife until it was pressed firmly against his throat, the edge digging deep enough to draw blood.

  “What the…fuck are you doing?” Gar’s voice was little more than a hiss against Faolan’s ear.

  “I got bored.”

  “Give it to me.” Gar held his free hand out, waiting to collect the object.

  “What the hell is it?” Faolan moved slowly, knowing he’d really pushed his luck this time. “Looks like a watch.”

  “Now.”

  Gar’s fingers wrapped around the rounded metal the moment Faolan released it. Only then did Gar ease the pressure of the blade from against his neck, allowing Faolan to breathe easier.

  “Touchy.” Faolan pressed his fingers against the wound to check how deep he’d been cut. He’d live.

  Gar ignored him. Dropping to his knees, he carefully set the object back inside the safe. Before closing the door, he pressed several buttons on the inside.

  “It won’t work, you know.” Faolan knew exactly what Gar had just done. “It will only take me another few minutes to crack the new code and I’ll be right back inside.”

  The short bark of laughter that escaped him died when Gar spun Faolan around and slammed his body against the wall. The air fled his lungs, making his head spin. When he was once again able to focus his vision, the young man was panting just as hard, both lust and rage contorting his boyish looks.

  “I told you the rules. No touching my stuff. Show me respect and I’ll show you the same.”

  “And I told you respect has to be earned. What the hell was that thing?”

  Gar didn’t respond right away. Instead of goading him, Faolan’s attention shifted to the bulge in the hunter’s pants. Faolan’s cock, still half hard from earlier, leapt to full attention at the realization Gar was still fiercely aroused. Gar’s gaze hardened with an intensity that made Faolan writhe in place.

  “It’s a…stopwatch. Tells you how long a task takes you. It was my father’s.”

  The remorse with which he said the last told Faolan there was more to the story. Still, he considered himself a smart man and knew now was not the time to push for answers.

  Now was most certainly the time for fucking.

  Shifting his thigh against Gar’s cock, Faolan leaned in close. “So now your precious stopwatch is put away and you have me at your mercy, what are you going to do?”

  “Kill you.”

  A cold and in control Gar was sexy, but having him angry and aroused, poised on the edge of that same control, was fucking hot.

  Faolan leaned forward and licked the shell of Gar’s ear. “I don’t think so. Despite me having pissed you off, you’re intrigued by the trinket I have on my ship.” Another swirl of his tongue against the hot skin. “Plus I don’t think you’d want to disappoint Jason.”

  “I’ll just kill you and hunt your ship down. Save me the headache.”

  Faolan knew he shouldn’t laugh, but he couldn’t help it. “You’ll never track them down without the coordinates.” Tugging his hand free, he dug into the pocket of his pants and pulled out a small gold disk. “Which are safely on here.”

  As expected, Gar tried to grab the disk out of Faolan’s grasp, but he was too slow. Stumbling back a step or two before regaining his balance. “Give it to me.”

  “Wouldn’t do you any good. It has a security code on it. Good luck trying to crack it too. It requires the code to be spoken in my voice and, of course, I’ve built in a safeguard. I say the wrong thing and you’re flying into a sun.”

  “Fuck,” Gar muttered.

  “I’m no novice when it comes to these things, hunter. You should have known that from the start.”

  Gar gave his head a slight shake before straightening. “We’ll be at the dimension gate soon. I need those coordinates.”

  Lust rolled through Faolan, an all-encompassing burn growing in strength with every look he cast on the hunter. He wanted this young man—now. Holding the disk out between them, Faolan thrust his hip out to the side and grinned.

  “You want it? Come and get it.”

  Chapter Three

  Gar was about to explode. His head pounded from the erotigen and the frustration of having the pain in the ass captain on his ship. The guy had gone into his safe and touched his father’s stopwatch—Gar’s one special personal possession, the only thing he gave a damn about.

  This was why he hated cleanup jobs—they never went the way he wanted. Give him a kill or a simple catch and retrieve any day. If Faolan became too much more of an issue, that’s exactly what he’d turn this into—a kill.

  “Well?” Faolan taunted him with a bright grin, waving the disk at him with short, quick motions.

  He’d set the ship on autopilot to the dimension gate, where it would hold until Gar gave it the next coordinates. It would take at least thirty minutes to get there, but he wasn’t in the mood for games. Especially since his body wasn’t completely under his control at the moment.

  Gar never did drugs. Hardly ever drank. The idea of losing control scared the shit out of him, and to ha
ve that control sucked away by artificial means, well, he wouldn’t do it to himself. Unfortunately, when something like erotigen entered his system, leading a clean lifestyle wasn’t an advantage. It hit him harder than it would an experienced user, lingering in his body longer.

  Making him horny as hell.

  Closing his eyes, Gar tried to catch his breath. Anger and desire mixed deep inside his body, pushing him to the edge. Seeing Faolan with his father’s stopwatch in his hand had been enough to make him see red, throwing him off balance. Another wave of dizziness hit him, sending his body lunging to the side.

  “Whoa there.”

  Firm hands were on his biceps, holding him still. That musk, deep and heady, was back. Gar sucked in a breath, pulling Faolan’s scent into his lungs. One of Faolan’s large hands snaked from his arms, pressing against his lower back, while the other began to work the buttons of his waistcoat.

  “I think you’ve gotten yourself overexcited, hunter.”

  Gar shivered. Faolan’s deep voice, always sounding one step away from a laugh, was steady. Mentally, he latched on to it, hoping it would bring him back from the hell he was slipping into.

  “The drug,” Gar stopped and swallowed. “Can’t think.”

  “I didn’t really believe the pure image you’d always put out there, hunter. Figured a man like you would…indulge. Even if you didn’t like to advertise the fact.”

  Gar let Faolan lead him to the couch and pull him down so they were practically on top of each other. The outside of their thighs pressed together firmly, the intimacy of contact sending a shiver through Gar. Sitting helped, let him catch his breath and regain at least a small part of his composure. Faolan leaned close, his lips against Gar’s ear.

  “When you got angry, it increased your heart rate and sent the erotigen coursing through that very hot body of yours.”

  Looking down, he saw Faolan had managed to pull Gar’s waistcoat open, leaving his shirt the only barrier. Gar shifted his gaze to meet blue eyes that said more than words ever could. Faolan’s long brown hair had slipped forward again and Gar actually half lifted his hand to push the strands behind the other man’s ear. He stopped in time, but not before the captain noticed.

  “You want to touch me, hunter? Go ahead. I don’t bite. Not on the first date at least.”

  “No.”

  The word was from his lips before he even considered it. Faolan chuckled, his hand playing with a button on Gar’s shirt.

  “There is a natural antidote for the drug. Endorphins. The best way to release them is from sex.”

  “Or I could just beat the hell out of you.”

  “Sounds like we’re back to where we started this evening. I’d still rather fuck you.”

  Gar rolled his eyes closed and imagined what it would feel like to have Faolan fuck him, his cock sliding in and out of Gar’s body. Gar bit his lower lip to keep the moan trapped inside. The noise encouraged Faolan, his fingers picking up speed as he worked the buttons free.

  “Hunter, it’s my fault you’re in this state. Seeing as we’re going to be working together for a little while, I feel it’s my responsibility to help you out. Prove to you I’m a good partner for this little adventure of ours.”

  “I’ll never trust you.”

  “I don’t need your trust. Not yet anyway.”

  The cool air tickled Gar’s chest as inch by inch of his skin was revealed. Faolan’s fingertips caressed the muscles over his stomach and Gar couldn’t help but watch the man’s face, see the appreciative looks as he continued to strip Gar’s clothes from him.

  “I knew you were hiding one fucking hot body under all this shit. Take it off. I want to see you.”

  Shifting, Gar let him pull the waistcoat off and didn’t even blink when it fell to the floor. With it gone, the only thing remaining was his half-unbuttoned shirt, which was gone in another moment as well, leaving Gar bare from the waist up with the exception of his wrist knives and wrist straps.

  Faolan let out a low whistle as he ran his hands over the sheaths strapped to Gar’s forearms. The black blades blended in with the leather, secretive and deadly.

  “These are even more impressive like this. Where did you get them?”

  “My own creation.”

  “They’re stunning. Just like you, hunter.”

  With swift, sure fingers, Faolan undid the buckles holding the straps on first one, then the other of Gar’s arms. The blades fell to the floor with a thunk, leaving Gar’s skin exposed and sensitive.

  Faolan pressed Gar back against the couch until he nearly lay all the way flat. While he wasn’t as broad as Faolan, he was in amazing shape. He knew the appeal of his body, even if he rarely took advantage of the pleasure others offered him.

  Bending his head over Gar’s stomach, Faolan placed a kiss just above his bellybutton. The gentle contact shot straight to Gar’s cock, sending his back arching up. The pirate chuckled, licking a circle around the hole.

  “Smooth skin. I like that.”

  “And if it wasn’t smooth?”

  “I’d like that too.”

  Gar should have been jolted to reality by the admission, but he wasn’t. Faolan would fuck anything—that much was clear. Gar wasn’t the type of man to simply allow himself to be used by another—man, woman or alien.

  Control—he needed to regain it before things went too far.

  Letting out a loud growl, Gar pushed Faolan hard, sending him flying backward into a half sprawl. He didn’t move, instead he grinned at Gar with that wide smile of his.

  “New rules. I can do that. Do you have a bed in this ship or do you want to do this right here?”

  Gar’s body burned. He couldn’t fight the drug any longer and from the look on Faolan’s face, he wouldn’t have to.

  “You haven’t earned the privilege of my bed.”

  Faolan shuddered as Gar crawled along the couch, covering the captain’s body with his own.

  “When you’re horny your accent gets stronger. It’s a real turn-on.”

  Gar held himself over the older man. The erotigen may have been the catalyst, but it wasn’t the cause of the fire burning inside him. There was something appealing about Faolan to Gar. He was dangerous, fun and sexy all at once. Faolan was a man who’d be ballsy enough to push past his barriers, forcing Gar to take things to the next level.

  He could do that.

  “You talk too much, Faolan.”

  Lowering his body so their chests pressed fully against each other, Gar moved his mouth to Faolan’s ear and sucked hard. Groaning, Faolan clamped his hand to the back of Gar’s head, holding him in place.

  “Fuck. Say my name again.”

  “Faolan.”

  He bucked his hips, grinding his hard cock against Gar’s. “If you don’t fuck me soon I’m going to tear your ship apart.”

  Gar nipped at his neck, running his tongue over the sensitive skin as he reached down between them and began to fumble with Faolan’s belt.

  “Now you’re the one wearing too much clothing,” he muttered into the man’s shoulder.

  Within a moment the belt was free. Hands competed as both men pushed open the soft leather pants and pulled them over Faolan’s hips, where Gar had to stop long enough to pull both them and Faolan’s boots off. Another quick action had him stripped of his shirt, leaving him naked under Gar. The bounty hunter let his gaze wander over the expanse of flesh before him.

  “Beautiful,” he whispered.

  Before Faolan had a chance to retort with a smart-ass response, Gar wrapped a hand around his cock and squeezed hard. The groan that escaped Faolan was low and vibrated in his chest. Faolan pulled him down for another searing kiss.

  “Fuck me, hunter.” He ground his cock against Gar’s thigh. “We both need this.”

  “Only because of the drug.”

  “If that’s what you need to tell yourself.”

  It was. This was sex, pure and simple—because the last person he could become attached to w
as a pompous ass like Faolan. No, he’d use the pirate how he wanted, take what he needed to regain control and then get back to the matter at hand.

  For once, he’d enjoy himself and leave worrying about the future to another day.

  Dipping his head down, Gar captured Faolan’s nipple in his mouth to suck the peak hard. He ran his tongue over the sensitive tip until the other man groaned loud enough to fill the room. Gar’s cock pressed painfully against the fabric of his pants, desperate to get out. No, he would put off his pleasure until the last possible moment if he wanted to make this memorable for both of them. He needed a distraction.

  Shifting his body, he nipped and licked his way down Faolan’s body ‘til he reached the other man’s impressive cock. He felt the pirate stifle a moan as Gar’s mouth hovered a few inches from the swollen, purple tip.

  “Do you want me to suck you?” Gar asked, his voice sounding hoarse even to his own ears.

  “Fuck yes.” Faolan sighed.

  Without any further encouragement, Gar swiped his tongue across the broad head of the other man’s shaft. Faolan’s hands pulled at his hair to encourage him closer.

  “My ship, my rules,” he muttered, knowing it would further frustrate Faolan.

  “Who knew you were a cock tease, hunter.”

  “Don’t play with fire unless you’re willing to get burned.”

  Before Faolan could retort, Gar sucked his cock hard, taking most of it into his mouth and down his throat. The captain’s loud moan was reward enough, but added to the sweet taste of the pirate’s skin and pre-cum in his mouth, it was enough to drive Gar over the edge. Unable to stop himself, he reached down to stroke himself through his pants as he devoured Faolan, taking as much as he could. The velvet smoothness of the other man’s balls and shaft was unlike anything he’d experienced before. This was different from the sex he’d had in the past—whether from the drug or simply due to the overwhelming presence of the captain himself, Gar felt himself falling toward total abandon. Gar ran his tongue across every inch of skin he could find, memorizing the scent and taste, ignoring the stir of feelings deep inside his chest.