Temis watched him huff angrily away. Despite knowing him for less than a few days, what she'd seen of him had hinted at a cool criminal, one with a sense of humor at least. But this side of Gren, the angry, cutthroat mercenary, was more of what she'd initially expected.
Bemused, she dwelled on the differing sides of his personality, wondering what the hell Lead Sernal had been thinking to ask for Gren's help, when the ship fired to life.
She jolted into a bench of nearby seats when the shuttle tilted at an odd angle, then rushed to the front.
"Where are you taking us?"
"We need answers we're not going to get sitting on our asses in the middle of nowhere. Hang on." He piloted the ship due east toward Mornio, a planet known for its rich mine deposits.
"Now shut up and don't talk to me until we set down in Mornio, or so help me I won't be responsible for what happens next," he said with an ominous glare that pierced through the retort she thought to make.
They spent the next few hours in silence, and all the while Temis wondered just what might have "happened next," and why the thought of his worst made her want to kiss the scowl off his darkly handsome face.
Chapter Five
Temis and Gren successfully ignored one another for the duration of the trip to Mornio. Once they landed, however, Temis couldn't help asking the questions that had been building.
"Why Mornio? And why did you land here, of all places, when we're trying to keep a low profile?"
She looked through a portal at the seedy little town of Reykhold, Mornio's infamous port town. It was popular reading material for Mardu's peacemakers, a sterling example of what they worked so hard to prevent happening on their own planet.
Mornio's rich mine deposits attracted huge numbers of criminals bent on plunder and power. She shouldn't have been surprised by Gren's familiarity with Reykhold, yet he seemed a step-up from the scum that normally frequented the town.
"Right now you need me a hell of a lot more than I need you. This is my world, Temis," Gren said in a low, no-nonsense voice. He spoke without heat, the ice in his expression alerting her to be extremely wary. "Do what I tell you when I tell you and you'll get out of here unharmed. Play with me and you'll wish you hadn't."
He opened the shuttle doors and strode out without a backward glance.
Steamed, Temis followed intending to set him straight when he stopped suddenly, causing her to ram into his back.
"What--" she began when a large shirt hit her face.
"Put that on."
She noted the small clothing stand they'd stopped in front of, the older Mornian giving her a wide-eyed stare.
"Excuse me?"
"I said put it on." Gren turned to face her after saying something to the man in his native tongue. "Unless you'd rather showcase your breasts to the rest of Reykhold?"
She stared down at her torn shirt and flushed with embarrassment. Furious, she threw the shirt on. Gren's face, she noted, didn't soften at all, and she began to see just how he'd earned his dark reputation. He seemed wholly untouchable, his emotions locked under the cold, cruel demeanor that now encased him from head to toe.
"You'd like that, wouldn't you? Molesting me in public. You tore it in the first place," she murmured, earning a dark frown. Secretly pleased she'd managed to rile him, she waited for him to explain just where they were headed.
Instead, he nodded to the old man, then continued down the road toward the more crowded center of town.
The reality of Reykhold was far worse than the vids she'd studied. Finished red Mornian steel filled the town, making the village a bloody scene of gluttony and filth. The roads were dusty, a pale yellow reminder of what the raw steel of Mornio looked like before it had been melted.
Peopled with races from every planet, Reykhold served as a conglomeration of the desperate and greedy. Slavers and merchants commingled, no one reviled in a town filled with the underbelly of the system's richest planet.
As they passed vendor after vendor, coming closer to the actual storefronts in the shopping center, she noticed the growing number of stares and murmurs thrown their way.
"Gren," she said in a low voice, but he ignored her. "Gren," she said louder and grabbed his arm to stop him.
He turned around to stare at her, his lips flat. "What?"
"People are staring," she said bluntly.
"I know."
"You know?" When he turned to continue, she latched onto his forearm again, uncomfortably aware of the tingle that spread down her arm at the contact. "That's it. You're going to explain a few things to me now. Right now."
Gren's eyes seemed to glow from within, a startling flare of emerald annoyance as he took a step closer to her, pinning his chest to her breasts. "A slave has no say against her master, and direct disobedience is handled promptly, without question."
She opened her mouth to ask what the hell he meant when he hoisted her over his shoulder and swatted her behind with a whack loud enough to be heard down the street.
She heard several snickers and outright laughter and lashed out at Gren's back. Unfortunately, he held her with arms of iron, and pounding his back was like pounding a steel slab. When she tried kicking at him, he smacked her again, then followed with an uncomfortably warm caress that sucked the breath out of her.
"That's right, sura," he purred as he continued to walk down the street. "Relax and ask no questions. The less you know the better. And if you think to keep fighting me, know I'll strip these trousers off you and give the people on the streets a real show." His fingers traced the cleft between her cheeks and moisture pooled between her thighs.
She froze, completely stunned at her body's response to his touch. That Gren could so manhandle her in public, and that her body apparently liked it, made her question her sanity. An image, a flash of Gren's mouth between her legs, popped into her mind again and she wondered what, by Norak's breast, was happening to her.
Her mind sifted through the facts and strange memories she'd had since meeting Gren, working in a frenzy to make some sense of his seeming manipulation of her mind and body. Something wasn't right, and the tense coiled sensation in her loins proved it. Her reaction to Gren was anything but normal.
* * * *
Finally, the damned woman had stopped fighting. Gren swallowed a sigh of relief and wound around Nikos, a popular tavern, to a back staircase. Finding Jora guarding the entrance, he nodded a greeting and waited for the large man, a native of planet Ragga, to give him entry. Coming from a planet that gave birth to inhumanly strong inhabitants, Raggas were the best in security, and worth their weight in currency.
After a careful study, Jora grinned and punched in the appropriate codes on the security panel. He motioned a crudity at Temis, then stepped aside to allow Gren entry.
"You're all secure," Jora rumbled before stepping back to guard the stairwell.
Gren took the steps quickly, glad the beks he'd spent to safeguard this hideaway had finally come in handy. He punched in the key code and waited for the door to open to his room.
He stared into the darkened room warily, entering only when his senses told him the room was indeed secure. That Temis lay serenely over his shoulder gave him pause, but at least now he'd have only her to worry about in the relative safety of this room.
He flipped on a nearby light and set her on her feet. She glanced around her in bemusement, still silent, though he could feel her seething, no doubt about his less-than-gentlemanly treatment.
A large bed, locked chest, scarred table and scattered chairs were all that occupied the room, with the exception of the built-in wall storage common in Mornian buildings. A small lav sat off to the corner behind the room's only other door, and Gren made a mental note to have Jora turn the facilities on for his brief stay.
Temis' gaze eventually returned to him. Instead of the fiery glare he'd expected, her stare fixed on his hands.
Not sure what that meant, Gren waited for her to speak. He wondered just how far she w
ould try to push him this time, and if he could control himself enough not to throw her down on the bed and take her until she begged for mercy.
It had taken all his control on the shuttle not to show her how criminal he could actually be. The little peacemaker pushed his buttons like no one else ever had. After all he'd been through to help the peacemakers on this disaster of a mission, and she had the gall to accuse him of wanting to engage in criminal activity?
He'd lost his first vacation in years, been beaten unjustly, and thrown away his first taste of Thraian passion. And the knowledge that Temis reacted to him, that she could be his for the taking while she ranted and raved at him made him burn with the desire to fuck her until neither of them could speak.
His Theshan senses constantly reared whenever near her, teasing him with the idea of enthralling her, of chaining her to his side until he tired of her delectable body. He felt the temperature rise, could feel his cock hardening at thoughts of Temis at his command.
Shaking his head, he glared at her, almost wishing he'd never met her. Almost.
"What is this place?" she asked in a soft voice, her violet gaze finally rising to meet the heat in his face.
"A safe place, for now."
She blinked and stepped back, away from him, as if sensing the precariousness of her position for the first time. Then, realizing what she'd done, a hardness settled over her face and she straightened.
"I want you to tell me what's going on, Gren. No more excuses. I want to know what you're planning. Now."
Her hands settled on her hips in an authoritarian stance, and against his better judgment, Gren found himself admiring her courage. Her determination to control the situation and him finally penetrated his irritation, and his lips curled into a grin before he could think the better of it.
"You do realize I can do anything to you in here, and no one will come running?" he asked in low voice, the threat he'd intended buried under his amusement.
She rolled her eyes. "I'm shaking with fear," she said wryly.
His eyes narrowed. "You're not afraid at all, are you?"
"I can handle anything you throw at me," she said coolly, her hands clenched over her hips. "And if you don't start answering my questions," she said and closed the space between them, "you'll take what I throw back."
He groaned with frustrated laughter and left her to sink down into the bed. "I can't believe fate would be so cruel to stick me with a woman like you instead of the vacation I deserve."
She smiled through clenched teeth and stared down at him. "Like it or not, fate definitely has a sense of humor. Trust me, I'd much rather be working with my peers on this than a man I don't trust, and don't like."
"You like me well enough when my lips are on you though, don't you?" he asked slyly, pleased at the pretty blush that stole over her cheeks.
She cursed under her breath and made fists at her sides.
His earlier good mood restored, he relented enough to tell her, "You want explanations? Fine. Pull up a chair and listen without interruption." He waited until she sat, her brows set in that stubborn line he was coming to know all too well.
"After you peacemakers beat the hell out of me, for no justifiable reason I might add, I did some thinking in that cell. I didn't think Sernal had turned on me, but that Rorn had somehow interfered with the mission. Sernal mentioned bad peacemakers, and obviously Rorn is one of his main suspects."
"Yes, but--"
"So I decided to escape without Sernal's or Rafe's help," he continued with a glare. "The less interaction I have with them, the better my cover. You, on the other hand, made a perfect hostage. A beautiful woman, a peacemaker no less, under my control would ensure a safe escape from Lady Justice, at least until I could find security.
"Then something Rafe said made perfect sense to me. He mentioned something Sernal had said, about how obsessed Rorn seemed with you. And I had my answer. I'd take you and turn you into my 'slave,' to barter for easier entry into the slaver's market.
"Once there, I have no doubt we'll find those women. I just need to find out exactly when and where. In the meantime, I have to make sure we're seen together, and you appropriately subservient."
He couldn't contain a smile at the thought. She bristled but said nothing, absorbing what he'd just told her. He waited for the questions, the objections sure to follow and wasn't disappointed.
"Okay, I agree with most of what you've said. But me, a slave?" She snorted. "No one will believe that."
"They will. You have no idea what the slave markets are like, do you?"
She frowned and shook her head.
"Almost without exception potential slaves are drugged to ensure cooperation. They are led to the auction after blatant displays of what pleasure they're capable of bestowing," he said with disgust, memories of the two auctions he'd attended burned indelibly on his mind. He stood and began to pace. "Then they're positioned for sale. But the special ones, the most beautiful and treasured slaves, are sold at private parties. And you don't want me to tell you the things they make the slaves do there."
"How do you know all this?" Temis asked quietly. Her eyes narrowed. "Have you bought and sold slaves of your own?"
He immediately shook his head, regretting he'd been so open about the market in the first place. "No. Never. I'd rather die than be a party to--" She stared at his vehement denial with burning curiosity, and he quickly changed the direction of conversation. "The reason I mentioned this, Temis, is to let you know why you have to appear under my control."
"The barbaric display in the street," she murmured with disapproval.
"Exactly." Thoughts of what she might have to do to get them into the auction disturbed him, so much so that he began to reinvent his plan of attack.
"What are you thinking?" she asked and stood, coming to his side.
"Maybe you should return to Lady Justice and your peers," he said distractedly. He paced away from her, away from the bed, and imagined his next course of action. "I hadn't thought this plan all the way through. No, it won't work. Go back to Lady Justice. You'll be safer there."
"Oh no, you don't." She strode to his side and wrenched him to face her. "I'm in this until the end. This is my mission, and it's my duty to help those women. Lead Sernal trusted me with this and I won't let him down."
Irritated, he scowled at her. "Sernal? What the hell does he matter in this?"
"He's my superior, a man I deeply respect." He heard nothing but professional attachment in her tone and relaxed. "Besides, rescuing those women will be a lot easier with a woman, namely me, involved. Trust me, you'll be just as scary to them as their kidnappers. Maybe more," she added, aggravating him all over again, as she eyed him with a discouraging frown.
Being Thesha, he could easily command the missing women to obey his orders. He held more power over the female mind than any other creature in the system. But he couldn't tell her that. The Thesha lived in secrecy, and for good reason. Too many slavers had made them ready victims. At the thought his anger grew and he focused it on Temis, trying to combat his desire.
"So you find me intimidating, do you?" he asked softly, glaring at her nose to nose. "Good. But that's nothing compared to the fear of what you might have to do to prove your compliance once we reach the enemy."
Her shoulders straightened and she pursed her full, luscious lips. "I'm not afraid of you, Gren. And I'll do whatever I need to for the mission."
He felt an answering heat well within him at her carelessly thrown gauntlet. "Anything, hmm?"
Her eyes mirrored his need, and he sensed her desire easily, her sweet scent of wild spice beckoning him onward.
"I'm not an innocent young woman to be protected, Gren. I can hold my own, and I can definitely take you on." Her chest heaved and her eyes glittered with unfulfilled desire. He could see how excited she became at thoughts of tangling with him, of possibly besting him.
His cock swelled, almost hurting with the need to be inside of her, and he thre
w caution to the winds. He took a small step back. "Then, sura, I know you'll be able to dominate this challenge with ease."
His fingers teased the front clasp of his trousers and he watched her eyes grow wide, with anticipation and a hint of alarm she tried to hide. "Not scared, are you?" he taunted.
She shook her head, her gaze fixed on his hand. "I can handle you, Gren."
"Good," he murmured and reached for his straining cock. He withdrew it from his trousers and held it before her, completely hard, aching at the need to feel her mouth around him. "Then take me in your mouth."
Temis stared at him and he grew larger, feeling her gaze like a caress. "Is this what you mean about proving my submission?" Her voice was throaty, thick with want. He could smell her cream, and remembrances of the dream state when he'd tasted her forced him to control a shiver.
"I told you you're going to have to be convincing at the auction, sura. The drugs you'll supposedly be under lessen inhibitions and enhance the user's sensuality. You're going to have to be at ease with your sexuality or it won't work."
Temis heard his voice lower and thicken. His eyes remained glued to hers and he began stroking his cock. Her mouth watered at the juicy offering. A small bead of dew poised at the tip of his shaft and she licked her lips, drawn to his sex like a magnet.
Much as she knew Gren was testing her, she couldn't help wanting to meet his challenge. The thought of licking him, of tasting his seed made her wet, and she knew the time of discovery was at hand. Her woman's core demanded she let free.
"Do it, Temis," he said, his eyes a brilliant emerald against his hardened face.
She glared at him defiantly even as she knelt before him. He saw her look and his eyes narrowed, but still he leaned forward, his cock almost brushing her mouth, and Temis heard him try to stifle a gasp.
Winner Takes All Page 5