Dark Runner: LodeStar 3.5 (18 page)

She used the lav, paused, and then rapped on the hatch that led to Tal’s bunk.

The hatch sprang open, surprising her. But not as much as what she saw when she looked through it. Although, she didn’t know why she was surprised. It had been clear from the start that Darkrunner’s crew were more than just that. She just hadn’t seen it in graphic action yet.

Tal lay back in the mounded crimson and black cushions on his big bed, nude. Except for the small woman draped over his lap. Trix, clad in a tiny, shimmering green dress, had her hands full of his balls, and her mouth full of his cock.
 

She was working him with slow, lavish movements. His shaft glistened as she lifted her head, keeping only the tip in her mouth and then took him back in again. Although she could only take him half-way, Scala noted with a zing of spiteful satisfaction.

She wanted to turn and stalk away. But somehow she couldn’t stop watching the couple. Trix clearly liked what she was doing. Her eyes held a secret smile as she looked up at Tal, studying his reactions. Tal had one hand in her hair, a gentle grasp that spoke of affection and care. His other arm lay relaxed in the pillows, his hand palm up. Ready to have a kiss placed just there, in the center.

Scala tore her gaze from what Trix was doing and blinked. Goddess, she was aroused just watching them. And yet at the same time, a tight, burning knot was lodged in her chest. It felt uncomfortably like jealousy.

Jealous of Darkrunner? Oh, hells no. That wasn’t happening. Not now, not ever.

And she was
not
going to crawl onto that bed and join them. That would imply she wanted to be part of his entourage … and that way lay heartbreak. Because nothing ever lasted.

She forced herself to meet his gaze. He was watching her, of course. The man was like a quarking Indigon, always trying to poke into her brain.

“I’ll come back later,” she said. “Link me when you’re done.”

Trix lifted her head, her wet, swollen lips curving up in a welcoming smile. “Don’t leave,” she coaxed.

Scala shook her head, but she smiled back. “Another time, babe.”

Tal took his hand from Trix’s hair, and touched her bare shoulder. “Trix.”

The little blonde sat up with a regretful moue, and slid from the bed, straightening her dress as she stood. It looked good on her, displaying her lush breasts and narrow hips. She waggled her fingers at Scala and sauntered from the room, smiling mischievously as she passed.
 

Scala turned on Tal, who lay back in his pillows, a little smile playing about his mouth as he watched her. She wanted to hit him, she wanted to leap on him and find out what he smelled like with another woman’s scent on his skin.

And she wanted it to be her stroking his cock, still glistening from Trix’s mouth, not him. His long fingers enclosed his engorged shaft and glided up and down, his rings glinting in the light.

“So how many people are you fucking?” she asked, curiosity outweighing caution.

His eyes narrowed, and she reacted defensively. She lifted one hand and began to tick off on her fingers. “You have sex with Darry. You have sex with Trix. You have—
had
sex with me. Anyone else? Dalg?”

“Dalg, never. Anyone else? No, not on this trip.” Which he’d only been for a couple of weeks at the most.

She set her hands on her hips and frowned at him. “You’re definitely part Serp. What else are you?”

“Who cares? I like to fuck. I want to fuck you. You want me to fuck you. Where’s the problem?”

“The problem is—” she fumbled for words. She crossed her arms over her bare midriff, glowering at him. “I don’t know, you’re like—like one of those Sirens of Aquarian legend, or something. Seducing everyone who comes into your orbit.”

His smile was back, as if she’d paid him a fine compliment. “No, only those I find attractive.” His gaze stroked down over her and back up again. She swore she could feel the heat of it, like a physical touch. Goddess, how did the man do that?
 

“And,” he went on, “you’re the most attractive being I’ve seen for a long time. I want to fuck you every way possible. And invent a few more in our honor. And when you’re ready, I want to share you with those I trust, and give you pleasure greater than you ever dreamed.”

His beautiful eyes gleamed and his beguiling voice coiled around her, so that her legs trembled with the effort to stand, and not fall to her hands and knees on his bed. Everything sexual in her wanted to crawl to him and entreat him to take her.

She tried to swallow, and discovered her throat was too dry. Probably because her mouth was hanging open, and no wonder, because he was stroking his cock harder, his grip tight, his cock jerking in his grasp, the tip glistening now with his arousal.
 

She closed her mouth with a snap. Tried to look away from him, and found her gaze entangled with his in a sensual battle of wills.

“I’m not one of your playthings, Darkrunner. And you’re not gonna force me into anything.”

He actually laughed. “Force you? Where would be the fun in that?”

He watched her watching him. God, his cock was magnificent, so long and thick, and she knew exactly how good that silky length would feel driving into her.

“The fun, sweet fire, is in getting you to want whatever I want.” He held out a hand to her, a lord inviting his concubine to join him. “Come.”

She shook her head, but somehow, her will was slipping away. Her protests were unimportant. All that mattered was going to him.

A small part of her remained alert. She shook her head, trying to wake from her fugue state. “No. Wait ... what are you doing to me?”

“Nothing, babe. I’d never hurt you.” He beckoned, curling his fingers. “Just want to talk.” His eyes glowed with an unearthly light. She craved that light, she wanted to get closer to bask in it.
 

“That’s right,” he soothed. “Come to me.”

With a sigh, Scala gave in. She dropped to her knees on the end of his bed. It was soft and springy as she crawled slowly to him.
 

“Closer,” he said, pulling her to straddle his thighs. With her palms on his chest, it was the safest perch in the galaxy. Warm, and strong and enticing.

“Your eyes are so blue,” she whispered. “Like one of those resort pools.”

Had she thought him warm? He was hot, perspiration blooming on his skin. “Then come in, Snake Eyes. The water’s fine.”

He grasped her wrists and brought her closer to him, arching her forward at an uncomfortable angle.
 

She solved this by collapsing on his chest. She gazed into his eyes. “Your scent is addictive,” she told him. “I could eat you up.”

His grip shifted to her shoulders, and she slid her arms around his neck, nestling close. “I’ll start with your mouth,” she decided, and kissed him.

“Not yet.” He groaned and dragged her head back, one hand in her hair. “I need to know what you and your cousin—no, stop that—what you talked about today.”

She stopped nibbling on his neck long enough to speak. She was drunk on his scent. “Good news. I had an idea. I can still go and play mistress tomorrow, but I thought, why not ask Daarla to find out who owns all the houses here? She can do it—she works for a security company.”

“Is that all?” He liked it when she sucked on the cord of his neck, she could tell. He was trembling in her embrace.

“Mm-hmm. Oh,” She lifted her head and smiled. “And clothes. We talked about clothes. I spent a lot of your credit today. Do you like this top?”
 

She was tired of talking. She only wanted to think about his body under hers and what she wanted to do with him.

His face was flushed, his groin hot and damp under her, his palms damp. She wriggled, and he groaned. “Yeah, I fucking like your top. Stop that and listen—”

She moved again, riding him so that his cock stroked her through her tights. “I’m wet, Tal. For you.”

He grasped her hips and his fingers dug in, stilling her. “You didn’t tell her anything? About me, about what we’re doing here?”

“No. I didn’t … have to.” She shook her head, concentrating on the right angle so her clit rode against his shaft. Tiny movements because his grasp was so tight. But just looking into his eyes was enough to throw her over the edge. With a happy moan, she came, squirming against him.

“Fuck,” he snarled. “I’m only a man.
Enough.
”

He filled his hands with her breasts, stroking them through the gold lace, which scratched her nipples.
 

“Get your tights off,” he ordered, nipping at her throat. “Or I’ll tear a hole and fuck you through them.”

“No. I like them and they cost you a lot of credit.”

She got them off of one leg before he pulled her back astride him and thrust up into her. They both moaned with relief.

“Now,” he said hoarsely, pulling her head down to his. “Now you can ride me. And give me that dirty mouth.”

She had never felt such erotic abandon. She rode him with sinuous movements of her hips, feeling ever centimeter of him inside her, raking every pleasure nerve in her pussy and then some.

He held her ass so hard she would have bruised if she were human, and his mouth took her ravenously.
 

“You ... are ...
mine
,” he told her.

“
Yess.
” She came so hard her body convulsed, and her mind flew into a place of black velvet, where there was only him.
 

“Good,” he murmured from far away, his arms holding her close on his chest. “So good. Best ever.”

They fell asleep together like divers plummeting through a hatch into oblivion.

* * *

Waking took some effort.
 

Tal knew, even before he opened his eyes, that something was wrong. Lying very still, he carefully catalogued what his senses told him. Ship—running, temperature and oxygen normal. It was quiet, only the light thump of someone working out in their bunk and the hiss of the air vents. His body was rested, still lax with sleep and sexual satiation. Ah, yes. He’d had her, again and again, so hard she’d cried out.
 

Now, though ... something was wrong. He sniffed. No alien odors, so no one else in the room but him or her.
Her
... she was close.

He opened his eyes, a smile ready for the woman who’d pleased him with her surrender and her passion.

The first thing he saw was his own laser weapon aimed at his chest.
 

Then he focused on her arm holding it steady and her face behind it. She was fully dressed, her vest zipped to her throat. Although her lips were still kiss swollen, her beautiful eyes were heavy, shadows like bruises beneath them. Her gaze was cold, colder than he’d have thought eyes that color could be.

“What is it?” he asked, his voice hoarse with sleep. “What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong?” Her flat tone ramped up the foreboding icing in his gut. “Well, I’ll tell you, mate. You’ve been out for hours. Defenseless. Guess you used up all your reserves pulling that power play on me. You’ve Indigon somewhere in your mongrel mix. It’s enough to use, right?”

She stroked his face with her fingertips, that eerie look creeping him out. “But not enough of their genetics to let you use the power without a cost,” she mused. “Takes a lot out of you.”

Guilt roiled sickly in his gut.
 

Fuck.
She was furious, and with justification. He’d wanted information and used the strange power he’d inherited from one of the beings in his unknown past to get it. Nothing wrong with that. In his world, information was power. A man used the weapons he had to get the first and keep the latter.

But then, for the first time since he’d realized what he was, what he could do, he’d gotten sidetracked. He hadn’t cared about anything but getting inside her. He’d used his mojo to gain a woman’s sexual surrender. And this one wasn’t just a woman, she was a warrior. And in spite of her background, a fiercely proud one.

No, she wasn’t just another woman. What he’d done would have been wrong even then, because he might use women for his pleasure, but he let them
choose.
 

Not that anything they’d done had been against her will, but ... he’d bent her will. Okay, more than a bit. He’d used his mojo on her to get intel, but he should have made sure she was well out of it before he had her. And he sure as hells shouldn’t have started the whole thing when he was turned on from Trix’s teasing.
 

And then somehow, with Scala, he’d become tangled in the coils of his own power. Hadn’t even thought of stopping until he had her.

“I knew something was wrong,” she said, still in that eerily calm voice. “I felt like I was drugged, like my will was half-gone, out of my control. But all I could think about was how much I wanted you, what a thrill it was to have you want me so much. And how many times you were making me come.

“When I woke up,” she went on, “I knew I’d been played. No sick feeling from drugs or too much alcohol. Just ...” she shook her head. “Just knew I’d been fucked in more ways than one.”

He lifted his own hand to cover hers, opening his mouth to explain.