Jerred's Price (3 page)

She ran through the corridors until she saw signs she recognized. She checked the credit slip again, realizing how close she was to the hostel. There it was up ahead of her.

Deserted.

She walked toward it with a deliberately casual stride, then ducked into the doorway and pressed the key against the lock. It slid open. She held her breath as she crept inside, praying no one would see her. She was fairly sure she could talk her way out of anything that might come up, but it was always better not to leave a trail. There might be surveillance cameras, but nobody would bother to check them unless they had a good reason.

She walked swiftly down the corridor, checking off the rooms. There it was, number seven. The door opened smoothly and soundlessly when she slipped the card in. Then she was safe, the door shut behind her. She turned to survey his kingdom.

At first she wondered if she had made a mistake—it hardly looked as if anyone were staying there at all. Her visions of credit chits or valuable merchandise lying about vanished. Still, a safe place to rest was better than nothing, and now she had a few hours to figure out what to do next. Hopefully it would be enough.

She moved across the small room to the plain metal wardrobe, opening it to find a small rucksack. She picked it up, took it to the bed and dumped it out. A change of clothing. A small comp pad. Several entertainment disks. She looked at the titles, and curled her lip in disgust. Porn.

The man was truly lower than a
krellet.

Nothing of any use, though, or of interest. On to the fresher.

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Joanna Wylde

There was a neat kit on the counter, containing several small packets of cleanser and a shaver. A brush. Nothing else. Was the man some kind of monk? She’d never heard of a male this tidy.

She stalked back into the room and sat down heavily on the bed, thoroughly disgusted. Not a damn thing of value in the place. She was going to have to find some other way to buy passage off the station.

Exhaustion filled her limbs and she scooted down into the bed, taking unseemly pleasure in the simple act. She checked her wrist chrono, realizing she had been up hours past her usual bedtime. She was wiped. Part of her screamed out that taking a nap at this point would be a huge mistake. She needed to move, to get going.

But on the other hand, when would she have a chance to rest again? She couldn’t keep moving forever. In fact, she couldn’t keep moving much longer. She needed to be sharp and alert if she was going to get through this. Perhaps taking a nap would be a good idea after all. It would give her subconscious a chance to work on an escape plan…

Before she even finished the thought, she was asleep.

* * * * *

Jerred entered the hostel silently, aware that even the wildest of its residents were probably asleep by now. It would only take a few minutes to gather his things. Then he’d go and find the girl, and they’d leave the station. He was relatively certain the guards would love to arrest him again and get more money.

The door to his room slid open with a quick touch—he saw her immediately. She was sprawled across his bed with an arrogant abandon that brought a smile to his face.

He shut the door behind him silently, and came to stand beside her. Here was one challenge resolved already. She was his for the taking.

He noted his belongings spread out across the bed and smiled. The little witch had tried to rob him. So much for her holier-than-thou attitude. It was just as well. He would have taken her with him no matter what, but now he could do so without guilt.

The woman was a thief. She deserved whatever she got.

He reached down and grasped her shoulder lightly. She didn’t stir. Bemused, he sat down beside her and shifted her to the center of the bed. She muttered something in her but sleep didn’t wake. Her face seemed soft, almost innocent. He smothered a laugh.

This one was anything but innocent—she’d made that clear in the bar. She might claim to be a waitress, but she was offering far more services than that with every step she took.

She would be well-paid for her time. But he’d make her earn every penny of it along the way. She rolled toward him, murmuring softly in her sleep. His breath 18

Jerred’s Price

caught. He had been so angry, so disgusted, that he’d forgotten the punch-to-the-gut kind of feeling seeing her gave him.

Her face was so lovely…

Reddish-blonde hair, wildly curly in a way he just knew had to be natural. He settled himself closer, running one finger lightly through a reddish ringlet of hair beside him. A smattering of freckles across her nose and cheekbones… They turned lighter lower on her face, but there was a darker one, right next to the corner of her mouth.

Almost against his will, he leaned forward and kissed the small speck of a spot.

Her skin was smooth, soft. Wonderful smelling.

The adorable little spots continued down her neck, growing darker and more distinct across her chest and the slope of her breasts. Now there was something else that held his full attention. She wasn’t huge, but she was well-endowed. They were a woman’s breasts—full, with the kind of deep cleavage a man just wanted to sink into.

He leaned forward and nuzzled down into her, kissing the exposed flesh, tracing his tongue down into the crevice that tantalized him so. He could feel himself hardening, feel the tension in his body rising. There was something so wonderful about being close to her, as if he could sink into her body and find a kind of peace he’d never dreamed possible.

No wonder he had lost his mind over this woman. No wonder he’d risked his mission without a second thought. In that moment, he knew he would have done anything to stay close to her.

Anything.

He pulled back, and looked down into her sleeping face. Her eyes moved beneath their lids, and he felt her draw in a deep breath. She was waking up.

Her eyes fluttered open slowly, pure and blue before him. She looked confused, and then her gaze narrowed. Her face transformed, all softness gone.

“You,” she hissed. “What are you doing here?’

“Don’t you think that I should be asking the questions?” he replied softly. “After all, it’s my room.”

She moved toward him suddenly, and he rolled on top of her. It was instinct, self-preservation, and not a moment too soon. Her knee slammed into his thigh; she’d been aiming for his crotch.

Witch.

She bucked against him, trying to escape. He held her down, imprisoning her with his body, allowing himself to simply enjoy the feeling of her moving beneath him.

Every twist, every motion, rubbed her against his cock. He wanted to thrust into her and take her, but if he couldn’t have that quite yet, this wasn’t a bad alternative.

All too soon she caught on, and stilled.

“So, what do we do now?” she asked, her voice tight.

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“Oh, I have all kinds of ideas,” he replied dulcetly. “But I don’t know if you’d like them or not. I suppose that before we get any further, we should agree on a price? I’d hate for you to think I’m not a man of my word, and I think we’re long past playing coy.”

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Jerred’s Price

Chapter Three

Giselle glared up at him, disbelieving. After all that had happened, how could the bastard still think she was for sale? She’d had him beaten and arrested, for love of the Goddess! Her eyes narrowed as she thought about that. “How did you get out so quickly?”

He smiled at her, a disgustingly smug look coming across her face.

“I’ve found that justice is for sale here on Transit Station Three,” he said slowly.

“Remember, I told you everything was for sale if you were willing the pay the right price. Why don’t you tell me what your price is?”

“How did you manage to pay a fine that big so fast?” she asked. He merely looked at her, one eyebrow cocked in amusement.

“Your price?” he prodded after a moment.

“I told you, I’m not for sale!”

“Then why are you here?” he asked. “If the only reason you came here was to rob me, it seems that it may be in my best interest to call the guards and report you. What do you say to that?”

She froze, terrified. She had more than a guess as to what the guards would think of that… Time to try a new approach.

“Can we just forget this ever happened?” she asked suddenly, giving him her most winning smile. “I only came here because I needed a place to stay and I didn’t think you’d be around. I made a serious mistake, and I’m sorry for that. Can you just let it go?”

“Why did you need a place to stay?” he asked. She shook her head, disgusted for revealing so much.

“Tell me, or I call the guards,” he said with sudden insight. He knew something was up; she could see it on his face.

“Look, you’re imagining things,” she replied. “I’m sorry I bothered you, but there’s nothing to this. I was just locked out of my apartment, and I figured your room would be empty. I wasn’t carrying any cash to get a room of my own and Manya had already left for the cycle.”

“That’s ridiculous,” he said. “You didn’t need a keycard for your apartment; you already used that little excuse to fool me once. After that, I think it’s very generous for me to offer you money. Some would say you owe me.”

She rolled her eyes, forgetting to smile.

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“You don’t want me to call the station guards for a reason, don’t you?” he asked.

“You’re here because you’re in trouble.”

She shook her head, denying it. His grin grew broader.

“No, I’m right,” he said, “I can tell. There’s a little twitch by your eye. You’re lying.”

“No,” she said softly. “No, just let me leave. Please.”

He sat up abruptly. She felt exposed, insecure. Why was all this happening at once?

Why had she been so foolish as to come to his room?

“You’re running from something, probably the station guards,” he said shortly.

“Tell me what your problem is. Maybe I can help you.”

“You’re wrong.”

“If you have nothing to hide, you won’t mind me calling the station guards.

Computer, open a connection—”

“No,” she whispered. “Don’t call them. Please.”

“Tell me.”

“I saw something,” she whispered, defeated. “I saw one of them commit a crime.

Justice is for sale here, you said it yourself. They’ll kill me if they find me.”

“The guards?”

She nodded quickly, hoping desperately that he would have the decency not to turn her in.

He smiled broadly.

“I take it they know where you live,” he said slowly. “That you came here as a last resort?”

She didn’t reply. He was right, of course, but she’d be damned if she’d admit it openly.

“You need to get off the station.”

She nodded.

“And you don’t have any money? Or not much.”

She stayed still, once again unwilling to confirm how desperate her situation really was. Something about saying it out loud would make it too real.

“I can take you off-station,” he said slowly, his smile growing broader. “But I won’t do it for free. Can you pay me?”

“No,” she said shortly, suddenly beyond lying. She needed to get off-station, and he was her best bet. “I don’t have any money. I came here because I was hoping to find some.”

“That’s a real shame,” he said. She was starting to hate that smile of his. He was enjoying her pain, there could be no doubt. Bastard. “Because I won’t take you off the station unless you can think of a way to pay me.”

Silence fell between them.

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Jerred’s Price

“I don’t suppose you need a crew member?” she asked hopefully. He actually laughed at her then, and shook his head.

“You know what I want. Of course, I understand you aren’t for sale.”

She felt a slow rage start to burn within her. The bastard had no morals at all.

“You want me to have sex with you.”

“More than once,” he said lightly. He leaned forward, and his face grew intense. “In fact, I want to fuck you. I want to fuck you long and hard, and I want to keep doing it until you start screaming at me from need. I want to lick you and bite you all over your body, and push inside you long and slow. Later I want to take you fast, ram into you and fill you with my seed. And I want you to love every minute of it and beg me for more.”

She gazed at him, mesmerized and horrified at the same time. He actually licked his lips as he stopped speaking.

“What if I won’t do it?” she asked softly.

“Well, then,” he said. “I’ll just have to call the guards and let you work things out with them yourself.”

“You wouldn’t,” she whispered, but she knew he would. She could see from his face that he was dead serious. He had no softness, no mercy. Only lust. She closed her own eyes, trying to escape from that terrible, hungry gaze.

A scene from a vid she had watched as a teener popped into her head.

“When I was a kid, my friends and I went to see a show,” she said slowly. “The heroine, a beautiful Imperial princess, was being held captive by a pirate. He forced her to choose between her life and her virtue. That princess chose to die rather than allow her touch. My friends thought it was very romantic.”

“Your friends sound stupid,” he said abruptly. She could hear him walk across the room.

“That’s what I thought,” she replied, opening her eyes again. He was sitting on the small couch across from the bed. She looked at him closely, taking in his cold, hard face, the black leather breeches, and the spacer’s belt with the blaster hanging off it casually.

“I guess I’m for sale after all.”

“It’s a good price,” he said softly. “You won’t regret the transaction.”

She nodded, knowing he was right. She wanted to live, dammit. “Now what?”

“We seal the deal, of course,” he said.

“Let me guess, with a kiss?”

“Hell, no,” he said. “Kisses are for princesses. We’ll seal this deal with a fuck.”

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