Death Defying (Dark Desires) (4 page)

She gave herself a mental shake. “Come on.”

The ship was built on three levels. The large docking bay took up most of the central level, with the engine rooms situated on the lower, and the bridge and living quarters on the upper level. She headed up the ramp, Callum following close behind.

They didn’t speak on the way, but she was intensely conscious of him at her side and it was a relief to reach their destination. She pressed her hand to the panel, and the door slid open.

Lip curled in disdain, he stood and stared into the room. “Don’t you have somewhere bigger?”

“No, all the bigger cabins are taken.”

“Can’t you move someone?”

“Well, I’m sure Rico would be happy to discuss giving up his cabin for you, if you ask him nicely. On the other hand, maybe you won’t get the answer you’re looking for. So, I’m afraid it’s this or the docking bay.”

He frowned, but when she gestured at the open doorway, he stepped through. As she was about to leave, he turned and asked, “Would you come in for a moment?”

She didn’t want to. The room appeared very small with him inside, but she was going to have to get used to him, and now was as good a time as any. She stepped inside but left the door open.

This close, she could see the tracery of veins in the black, membranous wings. If she got the Meridian treatment, would she have wings like that one day?

“Does everyone get them?” The question was out before she could think about it.

He raised an eyebrow, but answered. “We think so, eventually. So far it’s just the oldest of us—the founder members—but they all have them.”

“Wow.”

“My feelings exactly. Unfortunately, it’s a sentiment not shared by the rest of my Council. Would you like to touch them?”

Shock hit her in the gut, but her feet moved her forward until she was near enough to breathe in the warm, masculine scent of him. It was closer than she had been to a man in a long time, and a little alarm buzzed in her head. But if she really wanted the Meridian treatment, she had a duty to find out as much as she could—this was research. Ignoring the buzz, she reached out and traced the tip of one black wing. The skin was silky soft under her fingertips, and a quiver ran through him.

Before she realized what he meant to do, his arms had clasped her shoulders and he dragged her to him, closing the small space between them.

“I’ve wanted to do this since the first time I saw you,” he murmured.

The words hardly registered. Tannis had gone rigid with shock. Her mind screamed at her to run, but her muscles locked solid.

As his head lowered toward her, she swallowed the whimper that rose in her throat. She was transported to that earlier time, that other life. She tried to tell herself that this was different. Here she had a choice, just pull free and go, but she froze in place, her mind numb. His body was hard against her, and when his lips touched hers, she opened her mouth to scream, and his hot, wet tongue thrust inside.

Then she did struggle. Biting down hard, her teeth sank into flesh, and she tasted blood. Her venom was poised for release, but he pulled away, and she wrenched out of his grasp and backed into the wall behind her.

Eyes narrowed, he raised one hand and wiped the blood from his lips.

“What the hell was that for?” He sounded more puzzled than angry. Maybe he was used to women falling over themselves for his kisses. He probably hadn’t been rejected since he’d become Leader of the Universe. Well, he’d better get used to it on this ship.

Like she’d always done in the research station, she blanked her face of all expression. But he must have seen something, because a small frown played across his face.

She licked her lips. “I just like to keep business and pleasure separate—you’re strictly business. And I don’t like being pawed by clients. From now on keep your hands, and any other appendages, to yourself.”

She whirled around and was through the door when he called out, “Could you get someone to bring me some food?”

Teeth gritted, Tannis answered, “We’re not your goddamn servants. You want to eat, you join us in the galley.”

Halfway to the bridge, she started to shake. Halting, she leaned a hand against the wall and rested her forehead against the cool metal. She’d forgotten the taste of fear. Now it was bitter on her tongue.

Pushing herself up straight, she forced herself to move and was pretty sure she had herself under control by the time she walked onto the bridge. While he still sat in the pilot’s seat, Rico had switched to autopilot and was relaxed, legs stretched out, as he watched something on the monitor.

His eyes narrowed at the sight of her. “What happened?”

“Nothing,” she said. “I’ve put him in Jon’s old cabin.”

Rico grinned. “I bet that’s a comedown.”

“Yeah, he wanted yours—I said he should ask you.” She was proud of how cool her voice sounded.

Rico patted the chair beside him. “Sit a moment. I want to talk to you.”

“What is it?” She crossed the room and sank into the seat.

“I think you’re making a mistake. Yeah.” He waved a hand to shut her up as she opened her mouth to argue. “I know—it’s good money, but I have a bad feeling about taking this job.”

“It’s too late now.”

“No it’s not—we can shove the bastard out of the airlock.”

“You want to shove the Leader of the Known Universe out of the airlock?”

She studied his face, trying to decide whether he really considered it a viable option. You could never tell with Rico. He could come across as a smooth charmer, but beneath that lurked a darkness. No one managed to survive for over fifteen hundred years by being nice.

“We should consider it.”

“And what do you reckon that would do to my chances of getting the Meridian treatment?”

“I’ve never really understood why you were so set on joining the Collective. You’re a loner, and they’re about as close a group as you’re likely to come across. They’re in each other’s heads. I’m not sure you’d cope with that.”

“Skylar has broken away.”

“She’s still in contact. I think it’s something she’ll always need.” He didn’t sound too happy about the idea. “So why? Why do you want it so badly?”

“I don’t know.” She studied her fingernails. “Okay, I do know—but it’s a bit pathetic.”

He raised his eyebrows, and she pushed herself to go on. “I have this one happy memory of my time in the research station. I’d only been there about a year or two, and there was this visit by a member of the Collective—”

“What were the Collective doing there?”

“How the hell should I know? I was only six at the time, and they didn’t exactly discuss policy with me. But anyway, she was like an angel, so beautiful and nice—she gave the children chocolate and…” She shook her head. “You don’t know what it was like in that place.”

“I saw some of it, and I can guess the rest,” he said softly.

“She just stuck in my mind. I lived with the fear of dying every day—they taunted us with it—how we would end up in the mines and everyone knows that’s a death sentence. So I had this dream that I’d get the Meridian treatment, and I’d be immortal, and I’d never die.” She shrugged. “I told you—pathetic.”

“There is another way to get immortality.”

At last, she knew where this was going.

“After the god-awful mess I made with Bastion, I promised I’d never change anyone again,” Rico said. “But I’ll do it for you. Just say the word, we’ll toss flyboy out of the airlock, and I’ll give you immortality.”

For long minutes, she stared at the toes of her boots while she considered what to say to him. After that first time, Rico had never bitten her again, never even hinted he wanted to. She knew he was immortal, but she’d also seen what else he was, the hungers that drove him. He’d once told her that sex helped him keep the darkness at bay. She never wanted to be like that. Never!

“I can’t, Rico. I appreciate the offer, but really I can’t.”

“Why? There’s no pain, and I’ve never known anyone not to survive.”

“I don’t want to be like you.” She bit her lip.

“Really,” he drawled. “You’d rather be like that arrogant bastard?”

“And Skylar,” she said quickly. “Skylar is Collective. So, they’re not all bad.” But Rico was her friend, and he deserved to know the truth. She took a deep breath. “I don’t like being touched, and I can’t face sex. Back in that place…” A shudder ran through her and she took a deep breath. “In the research station—”

“They raped you?” he interrupted, his tone harsh.

“No. They would have had to see me as human for that, and most of them didn’t. But they did experiments on us. Week after week, year after year.” She hated this; even talking about it revived the memories. Waking on a table, strapped down, while they—No, she wouldn’t think about it. “I thought maybe I was over the fear. But just now, Callum kissed me and—”

“He did what?” Rico’s outraged question cut off her flow. Maybe she should have kept that to herself, if only for the sake of shipboard harmony.

“He kissed me.”

Rico jumped to his feet. “Where is he? I’ll kill the bastard.”

For the first time since Callum had kissed her, she smiled. “Goddamn it, Rico, you’re not my freaking father.”

After a long moment staring at her, he sat back in his chair. “You’re right. Finish what you were saying.”

“There’s not much else—he kissed me, and I was right back in that cell. It was as if the last fifteen years just vanished. I was so full of fear and rage. You told me once that you use sex to keep the darkness at bay—I don’t want to live with that choice.”

Lips pursed, he looked at her for long moments, then nodded. “Okay.”

Janey and Daisy entered and the conversation was over. Janey sat down at her console and immediately her manicured fingers were flying. Daisy took the seat next to Rico. Daisy was genetically modified, a GM like Tannis, though in Daisy’s case, her DNA had been mixed with some sort of plant—Tannis had no clue what.

El Cazador
had picked up her escape pod floating in deep space after her family had been slaughtered three years ago, as part of the Church’s purge of GMs. Daisy was now copilot and loved flying, taking the controls whenever Rico would let her. According to Rico, she was a natural, though he never said it where Daisy could hear.

Today, as usual, she was dressed as some sort of mini Rico—whom she had a huge crush on—black shirt and black pants tucked into knee-high black boots. Her green hair was pulled into a ponytail, her pale green skin glowing. Her chlorophyll levels were high—she must have been on her sun bed.

“Where is he?” she asked.

“Who?” Tannis replied, although she knew exactly which who she meant.

“Callum Meridian.” Daisy almost bounced with excitement. With her boundless enthusiasm, she made Tannis feel old. “Those wings were just amazing. Did you know he was a fighter pilot back on Earth? And he was the best.”

“
Christos
,” Rico muttered.

Tannis almost grinned. It looked like Rico was in for some competition in the hero-worship department, and he obviously didn’t like the idea. It wasn’t funny, though. This trip was already fraught with potential catastrophes, and they could do without any testosterone-fueled pissing contests.

What they did need was a meeting.

“Get everybody together in the conference room in half an hour, including his Leadership—we need to find out just what it is he’s paying us to do.”

…

Callum was hungry. It wasn’t something he was used to—he had servants to make sure he had everything he desired, the second he desired it. He only had to think he wanted something and it would be there.

Obviously, not any more.

He’d go in search of this galley as soon as his other hunger was under control.

He stared at the open doorway where Tannis had exited ten minutes ago. Her reaction to his kiss had been unexpected. So had his. At least it confirmed there was nothing wrong with his libido—his dick was rock hard. His disinterest must have merely been boredom. There were too many women all too eager to bed him for reasons he’d not bothered to question, but in the end the charm of having anyone he wanted had faded.

Now, it felt as though his body was coming awake after years of hibernation. Heat pooled in his groin and he shifted. He could still taste her, hot, spicy woman tinged with the exotic, and he wanted to finish what they’d started. Except,
they
hadn’t started it.
He
had. And from her expression afterward, he’d been the only one to enjoy their kiss. Before she’d wiped it clean, he’d seen shock and even fear on her face.

She was such a mystery, and that intrigued him.

Callum.

The colonel’s voice sounded in his head, and a ripple of unease ran down his spine. They’d agreed no contact except in emergencies.
What is it?

Trouble. The Council have refused to recognize me as a member.

I left specific instructions—

Which they’re ignoring. But there’s more—all hell broke loose after you did your flying stunt. They are not happy. They put out a comm that you’ve been kidnapped, and they’re sending out everything they’ve got after you. They’ve also already posted a reward. A big reward.

Shit
. You can at least stop the Council coming after me. Hell, you’re in charge of the Corps, they can’t move without your order.

Not anymore. They’re suggesting I’m complicit in your “kidnapping.” I think they’re planning on arresting me any moment, so if you don’t hear from me again—good luck.
He was silent for a moment.
They’re at the door. I’ll—

Callum swore loudly as the colonel was cut off. He must have been knocked unconscious.

Tyson?

The man’s mind was closed, but Callum shoved his way in—he was the only one of them who could do it, which came in useful if people were ignoring you.

Callum, you’re not very popular around here right now.

Like I give a shit. I’m finished with hiding—I told you that. Now reinstate the colonel, recall the Corps, and get rid of that reward.