She found Rorn's guards arguing about the best Mardu brawlers sport team. She mentally shook her head at their lack of attention to detail. Neither man had his weapon within easy reach, nor did they stand ready by Gren's cell door. Instead they leaned lazily against the corridor bulkhead, their backs to hers and Rafe's approach.
Temis was almost upon them when they finally glanced over to see her. Their eyes widened as they took in her appearance, and she wanted to smack them for their lustful gazes.
"So, Peacemaker Temis," one of them said as he licked his lips. "What brings you here?"
She squared her shoulders and subtly thrust her chest out, catching both men's attention. "I haven't seen any of you for months. I just thought we could catch up on the precinct news while my partner serves the prisoner his morning meal."
They glanced at Rafe, saw the steaming food tray and nodded.
"If you wanted to take a short break, you three could use the small conference room right next door," Rafe offered. "That way if there's any trouble, I can yell and you'll hear me."
The men looked doubtful, probably dreading the idea of Rorn finding them gone from their post. Temis took both guards by the arm and led them gently toward the room.
"Isn't Rafe the greatest?" she fairly purred. "He knows just when a woman needs to catch up with old friends."
She endured at least twenty minutes of their ogling and clumsy attempts at pawing before giving them a bright smile as she stood.
"Jehn, Marn, I'm so glad we had this time to talk. I'd love to stay," she said and licked at her lips. She hadn't missed their reaction to her appeal, no doubt aided by the pheromone. And much as it disgusted her, their attraction helped the cause. "I just remembered I'm supposed to report to Lead Sernal for the morning's duty roster and I'm already late. Maybe later we can talk more, hmm?"
They readily agreed and escorted her from the room just in time to see Rafe leaving with an empty food tray.
He shook his head, his eyes burning with anger. "The idiot won't say a word about the Melan rebellion. It's going to take more of yesterday's efforts to persuade him."
Temis shrugged, her breasts thrusting against her thin shirt. "I told you he wouldn't respond to a hot meal."
Rafe eyed her speculatively. "Now maybe if you talked to him...."
She stared at him in surprise, wondering why the plan had changed, as the men behind her agreed.
"Yeah," Marn said. "I bet he'd tell you anything you asked." His eyes were glued to her chest. "We'll wait out here while you interrogate him. Then when you have your answers, we'll take them to Lead Rorn."
"And Sernal," Rafe reminded them.
"Sure, sure," Jehn agreed.
"He's bound and confined to the bed," Rafe told her. "We've got him on vid in the control room, so if you have any problems at all, they'll see it right away. And we'll be right here if you need us."
Temis wondered how he planned to add both hers and his images to the false vid, especially since the timing of their visits wouldn't mesh with reality. But he was encouraging her to meet with Gren, so obviously he wasn't too concerned with the cell room monitor.
"Okay, Rafe. Whatever you say." She took a deep breath and entered the cell, aware of the men eagerly awaiting her return. The solid door slid shut behind her and her gaze immediately sought Gren.
"Well, well, well," Gren murmured in a husky voice. "Temis Freya." His eyes roamed over her with an intensity that flustered her, and she had to work to remain still. "I like the outfit."
She frowned. As Rafe had said, Gren sat on his bed, his wrists chained to the floor by long, steel bonds. A small 'x' on the floor dictated the reach of said chains, and she positioned a nearby chair just beyond the mark.
Gren smiled but said nothing.
She noted his vitality, in sharp contrast with the heavy beating he'd sustained the day before, and blurted her concern. "Are you alright?"
"I look the picture of health, don't I?" he asked in a flat voice as he held his arms up for her inspection. She saw no bruising on his face or the part of his chest exposed by his gaping shirt.
"Yes, you do." She stared at him, curious to feel her heartbeat speed at his nearness. She cleared her throat, annoyed that she needed to before she spoke. "I trust Rafe explained everything?"
"He did."
She lowered her voice. "And you have the file."
"I do."
"Then why am I in here?"
"Because my plan is much more solid than the one you peacemakers concocted." He stood and effortlessly broke through both chains holding his wrists, the manacles sliding along his thick forearms.
"Gren?" she asked in amazement. Had he really broken through Mardu steel? Rafe must have done something to his bonds, she told herself, steadying her racing heart. He neared, towering over her, and she glanced up to see amusement lighting his eyes.
"Sura, it's time to go."
* * * *
Her eyes widened when he called her that, and Gren wondered if the endearment beckoned forth memories of last night.
"Sura?" She looked confused. "What do you mean it's time to go?"
He crossed his arms, aware of the surge of energy spiking his frame. The longer he stared at her, the more he recalled the feel of her silken skin, her taste, the experience of her spirit entwined with his. He could feel his erection growing and growled low in his throat.
Sexual attraction he understood. But his desire for the woman went beyond lust. His energy felt in tune with hers, a connection that was most unexpected and extremely unwelcome.
"Get up and follow my lead."
Her eyes frosted over and he found her coolness as enticing as her sensuality. "I asked you a question, prisoner Gren. And kindly remember who's in charge of this operation."
He smiled, showing a lot of teeth that made her tense with resolve. He watched her body assume a position of readiness, and wondered if she thought to fight with him in his cell. The thought stirred him more than it should. "You really are lovely under that arrogant cloak of warrior."
She glared and clenched her fists.
"Relax, sura, and don't fight me. I don't have time to explain." He grabbed her by the shirt collar and yanked her to his chest. One hand wrapped around her slim waist while the other tangled in her golden tresses.
"Nice," he murmured, knowing he had little time for this. She sputtered and squirmed to be free, her eyes now more gray than violet, filled with rage, and he couldn't help himself.
He ravaged her mouth, taking her scream of protest away with a breath of desire. Her lips parted in a soft moan, of surprise or desire it didn't matter. He explored her soft mouth, unable to resist plunging into the moist cavern, teasing her tongue with stroking motions.
After a short pause she melted against him, reacting to each sweep of his tongue with drugging passion. She moved closer to him of her own accord, her full breasts heavy with desire as she strained against his chest. He could feel her nipples surging against his naked flesh where his shirt parted.
Losing himself in her, it took all the strength he possessed to break from her mouth. Panting, he stared down at her eyes closed in surrender, at her mouth glistening with his taste.
"Come, we have to go," he said thickly, his voice echoing oddly in the small room. He blinked as he realized he'd assumed control over her mind and body without trying, his Thesha skills taking charge of his rampant hormones. For some reason he'd lost control of his abilities, and the occurrence startled him out of his passion-induced haze.
Temis, however, remained his to manipulate. Even free of the powerful lust riding him, something within Gren refused to let go of her. With time running short, he decided the easiest course of action would be to take her with him in such a state--helpless to refuse and possibly hinder his movements.
"Open the door, as if nothing is wrong. I'll be right behind you, sura," he ordered and waited.
The door slid open under her nimble fingers and he followed her into th
e corridor, startling Rafe and two guards out of a conversation. Rafe's eyes widened seeing Gren behind Temis.
"What--" one of the men began before Gren silenced him with a chop to the throat. In a blur of speed, he quickly set upon the other guard, paralyzing his vocal cords and movements with an exact strike to the neck.
"Sorry, Rafe, but it's best this way," Gren gruffly apologized before he attacked.
Stunned but too quick to take down easily, Rafe spun out of reach.
"What the hell are you doing?" he asked in a low voice. "You're going to get killed."
"No," Gren said with a smile and lunged at Rafe again, this time bringing the man to his knees with a blow across his chest. "I'm escaping with a hostage in tow." He turned to Temis. "Sura? Take care of him."
Rafe's eyes narrowed as he absorbed Temis' blank gaze, at her ready willingness to follow Gren. He turned his attention to Gren, his hands clenched into tight fists. "When Sernal hears about this," he growled before his eyes rolled into the back of his head.
Temis released the pressure point on his arm and watched dispassionately as Rafe crumpled to the ground.
"Very nice, my fierce warrior," Gren murmured. Knowing he had little time before they were found, he prepared for exposure to more peacemakers. He tucked the case file into the small of Temis' back and covered it with her shirt. Then he tore a few pieces of fabric from her blouse and bound her hands behind her, all the while she remained docile under his touch.
He grabbed a phaser from one of the downed guards and set it to high stun, then placed Temis gently over his shoulder and made his way toward freedom. He encountered a half dozen peacemakers that he quickly stunned, not surprised when the alarm sounded just as he reached the shuttle bay.
Thankfully two shuttles sat unused at dock. Using the codes pried from deep within Temis' mind, he unlocked the closest shuttle and belted Temis into a passenger seat. Adrenaline flowed through his system, the challenge, the near victory over the peacemakers like a drug stirring him into overdrive.
Activating the controls and opening Lady Justice's outer doors, he maneuvered around the shuttle in front of him and had just reached the ship's outer hull when Sernal's voice leeched through the voice communicator.
"Halt before I'm forced to shoot," Sernal ordered. The peacemaker sounded angry, and Gren couldn't tell if it was for the benefit of the men around him or if he truly was furious over Gren's escape.
Knowing he'd be better off without further peacemaker interference, Gren ignored the command. "Shoot if you must, but know you'll be killing Peacemaker Temis Freya in the process." He heard muttered cursing and grinned, knowing he'd put a major obstacle in his pursuers' path. Without further word he sped toward the hull, narrowly escaping as the hull doors closed behind him.
He set course for Nebe6, knowing he'd never reach the planet but certain once he neared the system's central asteroid cluster he could lose the peacemakers sure to dog his trail.
True enough, not one third of the way toward the cluster he noted four fighters speeding after him. Should Sernal's men be in those planes, he would have no need to worry. He wasn't certain, however, whether Rorn's men would have as much concern over Temis' welfare.
For the next few hours he dodged and wove past several cargo ships and Ragga's smallest moon before he made it to the most dangerous part of his plan, the system's central asteroid band. Having used such an escape route before, Gren managed to lose his pursuers halfway through the static maze. He hoped, for Sernal's sake, that any decent peacemakers weren't harmed trying to escape the lethal labyrinth of asteroids that were home to many of the system's most dangerous criminals.
Nonetheless, he allowed himself a breath of relief once he lost those following him, and landed in a cavern on one of the smaller asteroids, an excellent hiding spot he'd used before.
Once the shuttle was stable on the surface and in no pending danger, he left the controls to check on Temis.
"You fregnali bastard," Temis cursed through clenched teeth, her hands still bound behind her back as she struggled for freedom. "When I get out of these bonds you're going straight back to Lady Justice!"
Gren stared at her in bemusement. She should still have been under his influence, but apparently the warrior within her refused to be quelled for too long. Little did she know her contrary nature and inner strength made her that much more enticing.
Her shirt, ripped in places and tattered, bared more of her breasts than it covered, and his cock hardened at the sight of her nipples. Oblivious, she continued to curse him as she fought her confinement.
"Temis," Gren said and cleared his throat, frowning at his lack of control. "Have you not thought how opportune this is to the mission?"
Her struggles slowed and she glared at him.
"Think about it." He sat across from her, unable to look away from her heaving breasts, flushed pink from her exertions. He tried to ignore how 'opportune' their isolation could be. "We are away from the peacemakers, finally. Now I can track the guilty party with you as a believable hostage."
"Hostage?" Her eyes widened, a lovely shade of cool lavender streaked with silver.
He nodded. "I let Sernal know I'd taken you hostage. So Rorn, if in fact he is guilty, won't bat an eye when I eventually show with you at the selling of those abducted women."
She ceased struggling against the ties at her wrists, much to Gren's disappointment.
"I know Sernal had some idiotic notion of using you as my partner," he continued, "but the truth is you'll be much more believable as a potential slave than a peacemaker turned bad."
She simmered with outrage. "Why? Because I'm a woman and therefore not believable as a peacemaker? Or is it because you view my sex as weak, beneath you?"
"I'd like you better beneath me," he muttered and held up his hand to forestall more acerbic rebuttal. "No, Temis, my suggestion has nothing at all to do with the fact you're a woman. It's more about who you are in particular."
"Well?" she asked after he hesitated.
He stared at her, opening his senses to absorb that essence, that particular aura only Temis possessed. "You're too good. Too honorable," he said bluntly, startling her mouth into a small 'o'. "No one who knows you would ever believe you capable of turning on your ideals. And the plain truth is that your beauty can only aid us in this mission.
"I can't imagine any man turning away the opportunity to bed a woman who looks like you."
He smiled at the return of her hostility and reaching down, removed the bonds from her wrists. She stood up quickly, probably hoping to put them on more equal footing.
"If you men would think with your head and not your--"
"But we don't, so get used to it. I don't know why being told you're beautiful angers you, but you can't hide from the truth." He tucked a wavering strand of hair behind her ear, unable to keep from touching her.
She startled and pulled back. "What was that for?"
"To remind you you're a woman more than a warrior, sura." She scowled, but beneath the annoyance lurked the hint of nerves. Curious, Gren stepped closer. "But maybe you need a more thorough reminder, hmm?"
He drew her protesting form into his arms and sighed at her perfect curves. Keeping a tight reign on his powers, he focused on the texture of her mouth, the sweetness of her kiss as he lowered his mouth to sample another taste of wainu.
Temis shuddered, not understanding how Gren had done it to her again. She'd never before fallen pray to the lusts affecting her peers, and now she found herself a victim of her own needs. That Gren, a man suspected of dozens of system violations and heinous crimes should be the one to spark her desire made her simultaneously disgusted with herself and strangely excited.
As his lips touched hers with surprising gentleness, she felt her will to resist melt under his confusing presence.
Her fingers curled against his shoulders to push him away, but instead pulled him closer.
He tasted of raw strength, of passion, and of a distu
rbing wildness that teased her with the promise of unending ecstasy.
Images of Gren kissing her under a foreign sky flashed through her mind and her loins throbbed, releasing a flood of moist desire between her legs. She clearly felt a remembrance of Gren's mouth on her sex, his tongue expertly bringing her to orgasm with ease.
Though the kiss he gave her now was gentle, it held the same heat, the same promise of more to come.
She trembled in his arms and heard him murmur her name as his large arms caged her protectively. Her breasts tingled where they touched the heat of his body, and she could feel his erection through his trousers pressed like steel against her stomach.
Wanting to break free and yet not willing to end this sweet torment just yet, she shifted against his chest, brushing her hardened nipples against his bare flesh.
He cursed against her lips and pulled back, his breathing as harsh as hers.
Staring down at her with an intensely powerful expression on his face, he traced her lips with a callused finger, the roughness of his hand at odds with the gentleness of the action.
"You see, sura? You can be both warrior and woman, and the stronger because of it."
His voice, both husky and deep, shook her. She could almost feel his need pounding at her body, and the imagined foreign sensation of male desire made her back up a step.
"I don't need you to analyze me," she answered in a shaky voice. Angered at her loss of control, she sharpened her tone. "And regardless of what you think of your role in this, you and I will be partners. I won't let you get distracted by the legion of criminal acts you're no doubt currently involved in. For whatever reason," she scorned, "Lead Sernal wanted your help to find those missing women. And it's up to me to see that you do."
She ended on a forceful, controlled note, secure in her role as peacemaker and disciplined Zephyr-trained warrior.
Gren stared at her as if he wanted to throttle her. "You, lady, are one piece of work," he growled, his eyes dangerously dark. "Fine, have it your way. I've tried to be nice. Hell, I've even tried to show you the parts of yourself you don't want to see. But you want to call the shots? Go for it, sweetheart," he mocked, and the endearment sounded bitter on his tongue. "I'll find those women, and when I do, you're going to owe me one hell of an apology. One I mean to collect," he threatened and strode toward the control panel.
Winner Takes All Page 4