That first kiss, in the Port Hubble market, had been a necessary cover, but it also opened up a floodgate of emotion Rik was still struggling to contain. So sweet, so sexy. His constrained libido had begun hammering on its cell door the moment his lips touched her lush, responsive mouth. He wanted her so badly. In his arms, in his bed, underneath him as he sank into paradise, bringing them both a brief respite from the outside world.
Just moments ago on the bridge, Rik’s desire for her had raged unleashed, overpowering all his restraint. What the hell was he doing?
The mission. I must keep my mind on the mission.
Tina la Cross sat round the corner, next to Luna, glaring across the table at Quatrain who sat on the other side of Rik. The youth’s boots were up on the table. He leaned back in his chair, with a smug grin and narrowed eyes.
“Nu-uh. Had ‘em all in my sights.”
The belligerent kid was back in control, and Rik forced himself to keep from smiling. We all need our armor.
He had to be the captain now. “Feet off the table, Mr. Tyson.” He gave the young man’s boot a shove.
Quatrain grumbled something under his breath, but removed his feet from the table edge.
Markus sat further down, an empty chair between him and Quatrain, with Thuban Pinder and his two sons, Pollix and Wasat, taking up the side of the table across from Rik.
Next to Tina, sat Carter Arcturus. The broad-shouldered, granite-jawed spacer had come forward as ready and willing to learn.
“I don’t know anything about flying a spacecraft, but I did do a stint monitoring nuclear core levels at the San Adhera power station.” Deep shadows rimmed the man’s cobalt eyes, but his desire to help seemed genuine. “Is that anything you can use?”
It was close enough that Rik decided to put him in charge of the warp core monitoring, freeing Luna to just do communications and handle the cloaking device and tractor beam. She had the best operational knowledge of how those devices worked.
His crew was filling out, but there were still too many empty seats on the bridge.
Harvey sat up there alone at that moment. The only one of them able to continue monitoring near-space while listening in on the meeting over the intercom circuit. Humans just didn’t have the capacity to fully split their attention between two tasks.
“Here’s my dilemma.” Rik had decided to lay it all out for them. “As a galactic marshal, I have a mission and a duty.”
There were raised eyebrows around the table. Obviously only a few of them had suspected Rik of being a marshal.
“My mission is to locate and rescue Doctor Ian von Alderamin. My sources say he’s being held captive somewhere in this sector, but finding him on one of the twelve habitable planets or, gods forbid, some isolated moon-base could be a long, hard task.”
Heads nodded all around.
“My duty is to see you all safely to one of the coreworlds. This is not your affair, and I can’t in good consciousness continue to put you in danger, now that we’ve escaped the initial pursuit.”
Tina shook her head, sending corkscrew curls bouncing. “But we’re not out of danger, no matter what course we choose. The Brotherhood is sure to have all the jump points under surveillance by now. Just getting out of the system will be a dangerous challenge.”
Rik held up a hand. “With the cloaking device we can probably sneak by them and escape.
In his peripheral vision, Rik noted Carter’s eyes widen. The man opened his mouth as if to speak, then closed it again, saying nothing.
Does he know something he’s not telling?
“Look.” Tina rose from her chair, knuckles on the table, pulling Rik’s full attention. “Most of us are spacers. The Dark Nebulan System was our last hope of any real freedom. Now, we don’t even have that. We don’t have anywhere to go anyway.”
Markus rose and thumped the table with his palm. “No, Tina. You’ve got a place, if you want it. You all do.”
His eyes scanned the group. “I work in a traveling show. It’s almost all spacers there. It’s not much, but we’ve made a home for ourselves. I can find something for each and every one of you to do there. Safer things than facing a horde of pirates . . .” He turned toward Rik. “. . . or a Federation review board.”
Coming out of the Dark Nebulan system, they would all have to face a review board, and pay for any crimes they’d committed. Most likely, none of them had a home planet that would claim them in the Federation, and they’d be declared spacers. No, life wouldn’t be that much easier for them even after they escaped this hellhole.
Markus’s expression was intense as he studied the ragtag crew. “I’m a spacer myself, born and raised in Port Hubble. But, I got out, and I come back every chance I get to help more get off that horrible excuse for a planet. I wasn’t planning to pull you off-world and not have a place to take you.”
Thuban Pinder stood, rapping his knuckles on the table for attention. The gray-haired patriarch had a weathered visage, but his deep blue eyes were bright and expressive. “But we all owe Rik for the escape.” He wiped his hands down his grease-stained farmer’s coverall and looked Markus square in the eye. “Really, Stout, your ship was never going to fly again. My boys worked on it for weeks. Wouldn’t hold power long enough to get us out of the system, let alone across the galaxy to that show of yours. You were as trapped as we were there.”
He leveled his gaze on Rik. “Whatever you want from us, Captain, just ask.”
Rik’s heart warmed with the pride he felt from these people.
The coreworlds considered spacers the dregs of the galaxy. Rik’s feelings hadn’t changed in the three years he’d lived among the Pirates of the Dark Nebula. Now this group of spacers had him rethinking that whole notion.
“Okay, are you all in?”
Heads nodded around the table. Even Quatrain managed a positive shrug.
“The others feel the same way, Captain.” Tina’s look dared anyone to disagree with her. No one did. “We all owe you. What do you need?”
“I need to find Ian von Alderamin, a kidnapped scientist from the coreworlds. Anyone have a clue where to start? Has anyone heard any little bit that might point us in his direction.”
Luna spoke up. “Finding Ian quickly is important.” Commitment colored her tone. “Right now, it looks like this may be the only ship equipped with his new technologies, but if he stays a captive of the Brotherhood, they’ll force him to outfit more of their ships.”
Rik’s heart quailed at the thought of a pirate fleet equipped with cloaking, tractor beams, and gods forbid asteroid avoidance systems. The galactic marshals’ current technology wouldn’t stand a chance against it. Even if he could get a message back to headquarters, it would take weeks for the marshals to get a force into the system to help find Doctor von Alderamin.
Carter Arcturus shook his head and stood. “It’s already happening. I was part of the crew of that Umberhulk. About a week ago we docked at the Pluton orbital station. There was some talk about readying the ship to install some new equipment. Um . . . I think I saw or heard things I wasn’t supposed to, because shortly after docking the captain put a deathmark on my head. That’s why I’m on the run.”
Appearing only slightly younger than Rik, Carter looked out of place in the group. His stance, the way he phrased things, hinted at a coreworlds upbringing. Whatever had caused him to become a spacer must have been bad enough for him to lose his home planet’s citizenship. The broad-shouldered man kept his head down, not making eye contact with anyone.
Suspicion tingled at the back of Rik’s neck. His story didn’t feel right. A deathmark for that? He’s hiding something.
“That Umberhulk’s newly stolen, right from the Federation Fleet’s dry-docks . . . they said . . . though I don’t know anything about that. I mean, I was only just ass
igned there . . . taken on . . . after she was stolen.”
Rik could run a space freighter through some of the holes in Carter’s story, he was hiding something for sure, but the core of the information felt right. Pluton would be the perfect place for them to have taken Doctor von Alderamin.
Carter sat back down, drawing in a long halting breath. He’s worried. Not sure if he should have spoken up at all. I’ll give you credit for what you gave me, and a measure of trust . . . for now.
Rik nodded. “That sounds like a good place to start our search. But not right away. We all need a break after what we’ve been through. Take eight hours, then we’ll reconvene on the bridge. Get some rest, people. You’ve earned it.”
He turned toward Tina. “Can you use the command station here to plot me a course to Pluton? I’d like to have it all laid in, in case we need to make a fast getaway. They’re probably still searching for us, though I doubt they’ll find us here.”
“Of course, Captain.”
These were good people. He had no reason to trust any of them, but he did. Even Carter, with whatever secrets he was keeping, felt right.
Rik took a deep breath. The air in the compartment had cleared. Newer, fresher air filled his lungs. And hope filled his spirit.
Chapter 9
Luna held back as the others left the captain’s quarters. Tina remained as well, taking a seat at the auxiliary workstation to plot the course to the Pluton orbital station. Rik stood behind her, watching her work.
“That looks good,” he said pointing to the screen. “I can lay in the course from here. It will be good to have everything ready when we reconvene on the bridge.”
Tina stood and stretched. “I’m looking forward to a couple hours rest. This has been intense.”
Rik nodded. “We all need some rest.”
Tina exited and Rik turned his attention toward Luna. A mischievous glint played in his eyes. “You’re still here?”
She cocked her head. “You did ask me to move in with you for the journey, didn’t you?”
He shrugged, but the look in his eyes belied his casual stance. “And?” He raised an eyebrow.
Luna held out her arms. “Here I am.” What kind of an invitation did the man need?
His gaze darkened as his eyes swept over her, but still he held back. “I can’t promise you anything past the completion of the mission. My job . . .”
Ah, that’s it. An honorable man in pirates clothing. “I’m not asking for anything past right now.”
And right now, she wanted him.
He closed the distance between them. “I’d wish it otherwise, but that’s how it has to be.”
She nodded. “I understand.”
He gathered her into his arms, the smile back on his face, eyes a twinkle with lust. “Now, where were we before your droid so rudely interrupted us? Oh yeah.”
His mouth closed over hers, firm, powerful. He hugged her tight. Passion surged through her core as once again his lips explored and plundered. The air filled with his masculine scent. Her body thrummed with desire.
She laced her fingers through the loose coils of his hair, drawing him closer, as their tongues tangled in a seductive dance.
Rik’s cock went rock hard as pent-up desire cascaded through him like a migrating herd of Tormolian Zapdashers. Gods, why did his life have to be so screwed up right now. Luna was just . . . everything.
He stroked his hand down the soft curve of her back, gripping the delectable roundness of her pert ass and pulling her closer. Sensual heat built between them as their kiss turned into something so much more. Raw, aching, and overpowering, he threw everything he had into the connection he was forging with this smart, sexy woman.
This is wrong . . . selfish. He was stepping over boundaries forbidden by the code he’d pledged when he’d become a marshal. Protect and defend. But he didn’t give a frack any more. Immersed in the covert role of Pirate, it’d been a long time since he’d felt like a galactic marshal anyway.
A pirate took what he wanted, without thought of circumstances of repercussions. Plundering and leaving destruction in his wake. Am I heading down that road? Will I hurt her?
Rik walked a razor’s edge with the roles he played . . . lived. But he wasn’t fully a pirate yet. He’d take only what she offered and give her all the pleasure he could.
Thoughts for another time.
He fell into the passion of the moment, locking away worries and cares, and surrendering to the overwhelming power of their mutual attraction.
Without breaking the passionate kiss, Luna created enough space between them to lace her fingers into the opening of Rik’s shirt. Magnasnaps gave with a vicious pop, as she pulled open the shirt front.
Rik growled his approval, a deep sound rumbling from his throat.
She slid her hands over the broad pads of his chest muscles and each magnificent ripple of his abdominals. Heat, like she’d never felt before built inside her causing a molten flow of passion within.
He broke the kiss then, bringing his hand up to the side of her head. His intense, golden brown eyes stared into her soul. “You’re safe, right?”
It took a moment for his rasping question to register.
Modern medical techniques pioneered in the coreworlds had at last given women complete control over their cycles and reproductive systems. The process was quick, painless, and completely reversible. Her father insisted his daughters undergo the procedure as soon as they were of age.
“I can’t get pregnant.” She tugged on his open shirt, then pulled him with her onto the big captain’s bed behind her. She rolled, bringing him under her. “But, don’t let that stop you from trying.”
Rik raised his eyebrow. “You’re just full of surprises.”
She straddled his hips, sitting on her haunches. She could feel his bold erection pulsing right against her core, through the thin material that separated them. “Oh, I’m just getting started.”
Slowly, teasingly, she worked the catches of her blouse. One by one, releasing them and exposing the lacy bra she wore underneath.
Rik’s eyes blazed with passion. With each release, his cock jerked in response. His hands came up to mold to the sides of her breasts, thumbs flicking across the puckering nipples through the thin material.
Luna flung off the blouse, and Rik released her long enough for her to let loose the front catch, spilling her aching breasts back into his palms.
Hungrily he drew her down toward him, his mouth open to accept one sensitive peak. Her breath caught as his rough tongue dragged over the erect nipple. Passionate sparks flew through her stomach. Tenaciously he prodded and laved the pebbled tip.
“Oh, gods!” The way he touched her. She ached, wanting . . . needing more.
She rose up slightly, allowing her hand to stroke along the pulsing ridge of his very impressive erection. Her center wept moisture. His groan screamed frustrated ecstasy.
As she activated the magnalatch on his pants fastener, all that hard male flesh sprang into her palm. She closed her hand around his pulsating shaft, squeezing gently and sliding it along his length.
Rik gasped, releasing her breast. “Ooohh, frack!”
He felt massive in her hand, and her core clench in anticipation of having him deep inside her. Moving, taking, giving . . .
Just the thought sent an aroused moan falling from her lips.
“Gods, woman. You’re killing me.” His rasping tones dripped passion.
He pushed off, rolling Luna onto her back, then pushed up off the bed, standing long enough to kick off his boots and the rest of his clothing. His dark gaze swept over her with promises of carnal pleasures.
A sexy smirk touched his lips.
“Your turn.” Crawling onto the bed, he slid his hands along
the waistband of her slacks, finding the hidden catch underneath. Then he deftly pulled off her boots, tossing them to the floor, before sliding the slacks down her legs.
Now, only the merest scrap of synthsilk lace panties separated her from the heaven standing boldly at attention at the juncture of his legs. Then those too was gone, whisked down and off in one fluid motion. Rik’s eyes glowed with passion as they raked across her now naked body.
“My starshine.”
Her breath caught. The sincerity of his tone and fire in his eyes caused her channel to weep damp passion.
She wanted . . . needed . . . more. “Touch me, please?”
He moved over her, his hard muscular body sliding along hers as he settled beside her on the bed. His shaft boldly prodded her leg.
His plundering lips captured hers once again, then began peppering small kisses along her jaw, up her cheek. His tongue teased her earlobe, as his hand swept down to fondle her breast. Then the hand slid lower, coming to rest on her inner thigh.
Oh. Yes. She clenched in anticipation, squirming under his masterful caress.
With a firm touch, his seeking hand moved up to cup her sex. She drew in a deep breath, trying to hold back the orgasmic wave that threatened to crash down upon her.
He flicked his thumb over her clitoris, as two fingers plunging into her depths. His lips traveled again, down her neck, kissing and licking a fiery path to the sensitive peak of her breast.
Pirates of the Dark Nebula (Hearts in Orbit Book 2) Page 9