"I'm only your woman until tomorrow or are you already going back on your promise to let me go?"
"I thought you weren't a slave." He leaned forward, with her still on his lap, to check the other two entrances. No one had tripped the alarms he'd installed on them. He flipped through the screens again. "They got through one out of four of the bolts on door number two."
"I'm not a slave, but I assumed you would let me go if you believed me or not."
"I'll let you go." He leaned down to nuzzle her. "You smell good."
"You do too." She nipped at the pulse point in his neck.
"Mmmm. I can't tell if I want you because I'm building up to another wave or if I just want you because you smell so damn good and feel so right." He stood and perched her on the console.
"Do they know you're watching them?"
"They knew enough to cover the camera." Reluctantly, he walked away. He picked up his shirt and saw one of the back seams had ripped out. He threw it into the corner, then pulled another out of a trunk. Unable to control himself, Jax went back to where she sat, grabbing his pants off the floor on the way.
"Don't you think it's a bit of a coincidence that you go into heat and they show up?"
He moved close, feeling the warmth from her body through her clothes. He resisted the urge to try to strip her down again.
"Men do not go into heat." He gave her a look to reinforce his statement. Usually people were scared when he did that, but she just smiled. It irritated him, but he couldn't do a whole lot about it. For some reason, he felt possessive and protective of her, which made threats hardly worthwhile, since he couldn't follow through.
"Don't you think it's too much of a coincidence?" she asked again.
He pulled on his pants. "Yes."
"Which means that Alexander could be on the other side of the door." She paused. "Unless others know."
"They got the second bolt. They're half way through." He leaned down and changed the cameras around again. Going back to their conversation, he said, "I've thought about it. I haven't told anyone, but the red on my hands has been steadily growing for months now and I can't believe others don't know what it signifies."
"If it's Alexander, I want him."
"You're rather bloodthirsty, aren't you?" He grinned at her.
"He sold me as a slave. I feel entitled."
"You're not the one out the 12,000 decodreams." He stared at the screen. "The next door will take them awhile to get through and we'll get to see who's coming for us." Jax paged through the different zones, surprised to see that motion grids were going off in the foyer and storerooms as well. All the cameras were covered. "Shit, we may be in trouble." At least ten or twelve people were now in the house.
"Why didn't security advise you they'd come in?" she asked, leaning over to watch the grids.
"I shut off the warning system after the first group came through." He flipped the camera to the room outside their door. He had to see who was out there.
His first thought had been that Alexander was trying to take back his slave before she woke up. Then he would have both the woman and Jax's money. Now his gut told him he was wrong. This seemed too organized for Alexander. The man had struck him as a small-time hustler without a big support staff.
They cut through the third bolt on door two. Jax went and pulled socks and boots out of the trunk and put them on, then found his extra set of body armor. "Lift up your arms," he said, coming towards her.
She raised them high while he put the breast and back plates into place. It was too big for her, but it would have to do. He went back and put on his own vest. He suddenly had a bad feeling about this.
"Watch the screen and tell me when they come through." She nodded and he went to pull out what he would need to take with them when they left. Money, clothes and papers. "So do the numbers on your arm really come off with soap and water?"
"Yes."
"Whatever you do, don't wash them off or we'll be in trouble." He put the slave contract he got from Alexander into the bag. "The only papers I have for you are the slave ones. I don't want to have trouble getting you off-planet if we have to go."
"Do you think we will?"
"I don't like the number of people out there. My gut's telling me we need to get out while we can."
"The last lock is gone."
Jax went to the console and watched the door open to reveal Sparticus, one of his least favorite Junkeaters. Within seconds, the intruders had the next camera covered.
"Why are they masking the cameras?"
"They don't know I've got the motion sensors. They're trying to hide how big their force is." He squatted down and rolled up the rug, revealing the trap door. Waverly gasped. "It looks like things aren't going in our favor. We're going to have to leave."
"Do you know who they are?" she asked, looking back up at the computers.
"Junkeaters. I recognized Sparticus."
"I don't know him. I deal with Dante most of the time."
Jax grabbed the trapdoor and pulled it open. It took everything he had to do it, the heavy door weighing well over his own body weight.
"Jax, you don't think they're coming to rescue me, do you?"
"I doubt it. Sparticus and I have a long history with each other. Come on. Speed is all we've got going for us right now." He grabbed a heavy jacket and bundled her into it. "Down you go."
Jax lowered her into the hole. She would have to drop the last man-length or so into a small cavern below.
"I really don't want to go down there first," she said conversationally, as she hung off the edge.
"Scared of the dark?"
"No." She took a deep breath and looked at him with humor in her eyes. "Spiders." Then she dropped.
"Hold on. I'll be down in a second." He dropped in the bag. The trapdoor was too heavy for him to pull shut so he moved the bed into the center of the floor and tipped it up on its side so Sparticus couldn't see behind it. That would at least bring them into the room for his welcome surprise. As he set the booby traps, his lips twisted into a humorless smile. It would be nice to go out with a bang.
He jammed his two blasters into his pants but knew he would use them only as a last resort. Sparticus would come with a large team.
Pulling on his own jacket, he looked around at the place he'd called home for seven years. He decided he wouldn't miss it.
He went to the hole and tried to see Waverly in the darkness below him. "Move back. I'm coming down."
"I'm not sure you want to," she said, her voice holding a warning and a thread of panic he hadn't heard before.
He held onto the edge, lowered himself down, then dropped.
CHAPTER FOUR EXTERMINATOR NEEDED
Jax had only been in the tunnel twice before. The old gunrunner hadn't told him it was there, but when he'd gotten rid of the bed, the seam of the trapdoor had been revealed. It had puzzled him because the gunrunner should have told him about the tunnel. Jax would have paid more for the safe house if he'd known of its existence.
He'd debated long and hard before he rigged up a rope and lowered himself down. He wasn't all that thrilled to go in blind but neither could he sleep at night over what could be an entrance to his house without knowing where it went and what was down there.
He'd been even more puzzled when he found a completely intact tunnel with a fully functioning exit. It was possible the old gunrunner hadn't known about it. He'd told Jax he'd won the house in a Slap-Dash game.
When his feet hit the ground, the first thing he saw was Waverly pressed against the wall, staring at something behind him. Jax turned and saw it.
Not a spider, but the biggest beetle he'd ever seen. It was hard to tell how large it was, since it was standing in the tunnel that led to the outside door. But, if the head was any indication, it was as long as Jax was tall and came to Waverly's waist. Two pinchers clicked furiously, making it seem angry.
"Jax," Waverly whispered.
"Hold on." With one hand, h
e got out a blaster. With the other, he reached down slowly to the old-fashioned torches he'd left down here in case he needed to use the tunnel in an emergency. He'd put a tripwire on the door but hadn't come down to add motion sensors and cameras. If he had, the beetle would have tripped them off. Sloppy, Jax, he thought. He struck a match and the beetle's head snapped in his direction. Damn, it was ugly.
The torch didn't catch with the first match and the beetle crawled farther into the cave. Waverly moved towards him. Jax lit another match.
"The torch should be catching. This cave is dry."
He held the match under it.
"Come on."
Finally, the fire caught, smoking furiously.
The beetle made a high-pitched eek sound and Waverly ran the last few steps to him. The monster bug walked two steps closer. Fluid streamed from its mouth, hitting near their feet. It was spitting at them.
Jax waved the torch.
"Shoot it," Waverly said from behind him.
"It should leave. The fire should chase it away."
Another stream of fluid landed near them.
"Dammit, Jax, shoot it!"
The bug took another step into the room.
"Why isn't it leaving?" he asked in frustration.
"Jax," Waverly said, sounding furious.
She ripped the blaster from his hand. He watched, stunned, as she took careful aim and fired. The beetle's head exploded, raining bits of its body over the cave.
They both stood still for a heartbeat.
"We're going to have to climb over it to get out of here. Its body is totally blocking the tunnel." He looked at her, one eyebrow arched in challenge.
"Shut up," she snapped, tucking the blaster into her waistband. She walked to the beetle, the look on her face telling him she wasn't all that excited about going over it.
Grabbing the bag, he threw it to her, then picked up the extra torches. No use leaving them for Sparticus if he happened to make it down into the tunnel.
Going over the beetle wasn't fun, but he'd known it wouldn't be. They were able to avoid the area that had been its head but when Jax stepped on its shell to follow Waverly over, the body rocked, throwing him into her.
The contact stirred the mating urges he'd thought were dormant. He pulled back, but it was too late.
Every step she took down the passageway built the desire in his body. She walked with the blaster held ready in her hand, totally oblivious to his problem. Her sweet bottom, cupped in the flight pants she wore, tightened and released with every step she took. His hand tightened so hard on the torch, he felt the wood crack.
Moving quickly down the long tunnel, he knew they should reach the exit soon. Sweat rolled down his forehead as he fought the mating demon riding his back.
When they came to the door, Waverly sighed in relief. "I thought we'd run into more of those bugs." She turned to grin at him, but the smile faded when she saw his face. "Jax, what's wrong? Did you get hit with any of that beetle spit? Maybe it was poisonous."
She stepped towards him and he stumbled back. "Waverly, don't touch me. I'm fighting another wave." He let the torch drop from his hand, then flung the unlit ones in anger. There wasn't anything he could do but fight it. He leaned against the tunnel wall, facing away from her, trying to get himself under control.
"Jax," she said from behind him. "Let me help you."
"We don't have time for this. They should be most of the way through the door by now."
She touched his shoulder and he trembled. He couldn't form the words to tell her to stop. Her hands ran down his back and then around his waist. Jax could only stand there, the relief of her touch coursing through him. She stepped closer, pressing the length of her body against his. It felt so good, he moaned.
The cinnamon spice of her calmed the raging fire while her hands slowly lowered his zipper. His cock sprang out into her hand. He moaned again. She lightly stroked over the length of him, slowly at first, then with more insistence.
He took her other hand and placed it into his pants where she could cup his testicles. He slumped against the wall at her touch. Pre-come made her skin slick and he placed his own hand over hers to help set the motion. They moved faster, faster. Then relief washed over him, and he came, pumping out onto the floor of the tunnel. He held her still for a few seconds as his body continued to shudder.
He turned and pulled her close. "Thank you," he breathed into her ear.
"We need to go, Jax," she reminded him, her voice stressed.
He nodded and fixed himself back into his pants. "Ready?" he asked.
"Yes," she said, at the exact moment the explosion he'd set in the house rocked the tunnel, raining dirt down from the ceiling. Jax grabbed her by the arm and dragged her to the door just as the tunnel caved in around them.
CHAPTER FIVE PROBLEMS WITH THE GETAWAY
They stumbled into the cold night, gasping in the sweet taste of desert air. The tunnel had led them out into the base of a ravine below the safe house. Waverly looked around and wondered what they were going to do without water in the desert. The shouts of Sparticus' men rang from above them.
Jax placed his lips to her ear and whispered, "Follow me as quietly as you can."
She shivered and nodded, her whole body on fire from touching him in the cave. Her own need was more subtle than his, but if they weren't fleeing for their lives, she would be all over him. She took two deep breaths to ground herself, and followed.
Jax slowly made his way up the rock face. It was hard going but not impossible. Rains came to Sector 12 once a year. Usually lasting for a complete lunar cycle, they often didn't end for forty days or more. The land, unable to absorb that much water, became a mass of rivers and streams, some of which wore into the soft ground year after year. Ravines like this one dotted the desert landscape.
Because water levels fluctuated each year, the wear patterns had formed a series of stair-steps. They would climb a steep section, then level out, then climb again.
When they got to the top, they both looked cautiously over the rim at the chaos near Jax's house. The twin moons, low in the sky, backlit the planet in a dull glow. The Junkeaters scurried back and forth between their transports and the house. She counted ten of them, but it was hard to know if that was a reasonable number, since they wore similar dark clothing. It almost looked like they wore uniforms. Strange, she thought, Eaters were known for their bold colors and individual tastes.
"What happened?" she asked in a whisper.
"I set some explosives to go off when they tripped the motion sensors in the final room. I can only hope Sparticus was in there when it blew."
"And you think I'm bloodthirsty."
Jax rubbed her arm, still looking at the scene before them. Waverly moved away from him. He leaned down close to her and murmured, "What's wrong?" His breath sent spirals of desire through her.
"Nothing we can do something about now."
For a moment, he looked at her, then understanding crossed his face. He gazed back at the waiting transports. "Can you fly any of those?"
"Yes, but I'd rather fly the AlphaBird if we have a choice. It's the fastest thing they've got out there by far."
"Okay. We can go about this two ways. We can create a diversion or we can try sneaking onto the transport. Thoughts?"
"I vote for sneaking if we move soon. They're in chaos right now. I don't think they'll see us."
"I agree. Follow my lead." He jumped up and began running over to a small group of rocks near the AlphaBird.
"Follow my lead, follow my lead," Waverly mimicked. "If I followed your lead, we'd still be back there facing the beetle, trapped in the tunnel." She pulled herself over the lip of the ravine and ran hunched over to the rocks.
When she got beside him, he ran to the transport and up the stairs. Waverly watched carefully to see if he made it without being seen, pulling out her blaster, prepared to back him up if she had to.
She stood, ready to run to the Bird. Two
men walked near the ship. She dropped onto her knees.
"I can walk, damn you! Get back in there and see what happened to them. I'll wait in the transport."
"Yes sir!" The second man saluted and left. Weird, Waverly thought. I didn't know Junkeaters were into military formalities. She watched as the first man walked up the transport steps, favoring one of his legs.
When he went inside, Waverly ran. She could only hope Jax wouldn't be hurt in the time it took for her to get to him.
Taking the steps two at a time, she bolted through the door and skidded to a halt. Jax had the other man up against the wall and seemed to be choking him.
"Jax, don't kill him," she said, putting a warning hand on his back.
"Sparticus and I go way back. I owe him a few returned favors."
"I don't think we're dealing with Junkeaters, Jax. He might be able to tell us what's going on."
"Get us in the air. I won't kill him yet." Jax threw the man onto the floor and began tying him up with a line of rope he scavenged from a nearby box. Blood trickled steadily from a wound in the man's leg.
Waverly ran to raise the steps and then entered the cockpit.
"You should try to stop the blood loss if you want him to live," she yelled back to him.
Jax grunted noncommittally.
Strapping herself in, she felt that momentary rush she got every time she sat in the pilot's seat. Putting on a helmet, she fired up the engines and lifted off, praying the lack of a pre-flight check wouldn't come back to haunt them. For a second, she hung suspended above Jax's house, getting a feel for the AlphaBird. It was a beautiful piece of machinery, that was for sure. She hadn't had a chance to fly one before, since it was a relatively new model.
She increased power and did a tight bank to turn the transport back towards Bazarat. She would land the transport on Alexander's private strip, instead of the main landing area, she decided. That should get them close to the city without landing in the public ports, and give her a chance to settle her score with her former partner. Knowing Alexander, he'd be long gone by now. Still, there was always a chance the bastard had made the mistake of sticking around. She smiled in anticipation, reviewing things she would say and do to him.
In Heat Page 3