What To Read After FSOG: The Gemstone Collection Part Two (79 page)

“That could be arranged.” His dimple deepened around the smile curving his lips.

She couldn’t tear her gaze from the unfathomable depths of his soulful eyes. Eyes that raked her face with the desperation of man in the desert seeking water. Eyes hooded with sexual hunger. Eyes filled with a compassion she could almost believe in.

But reality was a bitch. None of that was real and Lilly chose to ignore that fact and lose herself once again in the fantasy of Dallas’ desire. She maneuvered the jeans off his hips, releasing the velvet heat of his erection to brush against her hip. Trapping his penis between their bodies, she rolled her hips, pressing her belly against his cock. She tipped up on her toes, catching his groans of pleasure in her mouth as she kissed him long and hard, the taste of her still on his tongue.

Dallas’ arms slid around her back, his fingers digging into her ass, holding her tight to him. The soft fur of his chest teased her nipples into tight points. His muscles trembled with the need he’d worked so hard to control. Lilly pulled him closer, letting herself imagine his desire was about
her
.

Dallas had given her so much pleasure and as much as she wanted to feel him buried in her, stretching and filling her, Lilly wanted to offer him something in return. Breaking from his kiss, she trailed love bites along his chin and down the taut cords of his neck. She slid down his stomach, intent on tasting his hot cock in her mouth. She pushed the jeans down his thighs and the dagger fell from his waistband to the floor with a heavy thud.

Lilly reached for it as the door slammed open.

“W
hat the fuck…” Thaegan’s heavy steps pounded across the floor. “Watch out, Sawyer, she’s got the dagger!”

In the split second it took Dallas’ lust-fogged mind to register Thaegan’s sudden appearance, he interpreted exactly what the Ka’al saw—the mess scattered on the floor behind them, Lilly’s unbound naked form bending seductively in front of him and the Seraphelium taking control with the deadly Ba’alkin dagger sliding toward his vital organs. With the jeans tangled around his ankles, there wasn’t much Dallas could do to protect either of them from the oncoming freight train that was his partner. He curled his body over in hopes of shielding Lilly from the blow, but survival instincts had her moving like a shot.

With the agility and confidence of one of Chicago’s finest, Lilly charged, the knife extended. Thaegan let out a war cry as he reached out to disarm Lilly. What happened next may have appeared in slow motion, but Dallas would never be sure how the petite woman had managed it. There was a tangling of arms, a juggling of the dagger and Lilly’s booted foot shot out and up. Somehow she managed to use Thaegan’s momentum against him. The large alien lost his balance, sprawled on his back and slid along the floor, smashing into the chair near Dallas. It was a wonder he hadn’t been taken down as well.

Silence pinged off the walls of the tiny cabin as the three of them assimilated the events of the last minute.

Dallas retrieved his jeans and pulled himself back together. Lilly bounced on the balls of her feet, the dagger still in her hand and extended, prepared for another attack. Thaegan slowly sat up, his fingers probing his scalp for damages. Dallas wanted to laugh at his partner’s pinched expression. He’d never seen the large alien bested by anyone in hand-to-hand combat, let alone a small woman.

“Enough is enough, asshole.” Lilly’s angry words brought him up short.

Dallas stepped toward her, his hand extended. But the warning look she shot stopped him cold. “Lilly, put down the dagger. You’ve got to see how this looked to Thaegan.”

“What I
see,
Dallas, is a couple of government idiots who overpowered an innocent woman doing her
job
. I think it’s
me
who should be pissed at you for costing me a bounty. Not the other way around.”

The woman had morphed from wanton seductress to pissed-off woman in two seconds flat. Not that he blamed her. They’d kidnapped her, tied her up and now Thaegan had tried to attack her a second time in less than two hours. She had every right to resent them. But, shit, she did look sexy as hell with that dangerous mien of female indignation sparking in her eyes. Her breasts bounced enticingly with her anger, her hair disheveled from the altercation with Thaegan. And that mouth spewing fury was still swollen from his kisses.
Jesus
, the blood rushing to his groin was making it hard to focus.

“Lilly, we—”

“I told you not to untie her.” Thaegan shifted and began to stand.

“Stay down, Ka’al,” Lilly commanded. “I like you right there.”

Thaegan acted as if she’d said nothing and stood next to Dallas, disgust deepening the ridges on his nose.

“I’m warning you, Ka’al. One move and I
will
gut you with this dagger. I’ve got enough negative energy pulsing around me, that the dagger will do most of the work.”

His partner quirked an eyebrow. Lilly may have caught him off guard once, but Dallas had no doubt the alien wouldn’t let it happen a second time.

Again Thaegan ignored her. “This certainly does complicate things.” The Ka’al sniffed the air then Dallas. “By the Gods, you didn’t.”

Dallas shrugged.

“She got to you too? Obviously, even that artificial shit flowing through your veins doesn’t stop her witchery. Is that why you untied her?”

He turned to face his partner. Dallas wasn’t sure what was irritating him more, the fact his partner was questioning his motives or the fact he hadn’t bothered to resist his own selfish needs. “I untied her because she’s no threat to me.”

“She controls you whether you feel it or not.”

“Is she controlling
you
right now? Is that why you’re being such an asshole?” Dallas asked.

Thaegan paused. He inhaled deeply and turned to stare at Lilly.

“I’m not doing shit to you, Ka’al,” Lilly said.

“Indeed you’re not,” Thaegan responded.

Dallas bent, picked up his shirt and tossed it to Lilly. Her nudity didn’t seem to be bothering anyone but him. The sight of her pendulous breasts and miles of alabaster skin made it hard for him to think with the head on his shoulders.

“So where does that leave us?” he asked.

But his partner ignored him and focused on Lilly. “How the hell did you stop the magic?”

“It’s not magic, idiot. I control the flow of energy.” She spoke as she worked the last few buttons of Dallas’ shirt, the dagger held loose in her hand. “I can ratchet it up or power it down. Simple.”

It was true. Current didn’t seem to be humming over her trembling muscles the way it had when she was tied to the chair. Dallas would like to think it had more to do with his sexual prowess in bringing her to orgasm than her ability to manipulate her own energy levels.

Thaegan slapped his hands together. “Well, then it seems she’s safe to transport to headquarters. No sense waiting until morning. We might as well roll.”

“I’m not going to your headquarters now or in the morning.”

“Yeah, the more I’ve been thinking about this the more I’m thinking that’s not a good idea,”

“What the hell, man?” asked Thaegan.

“Just hear me out. We suspect the Znedu’s boss has something to do with…” Dallas paused, he definitely wasn’t thinking straight. That was QAL information. He had no illusion that a former detective didn’t pick up on his slip, but he continued as if he hadn’t just passed on sensitive information. “Since Lilly has a connection now to Grebetz, I’m thinking it’s probably not safe for her at headquarters.”

He absently fingered the scar running down his face, the only part of his near-death experience he refused to let the doctors on Canus Delta heal. “There’s no one at headquarters who can interrogate her better than you and me.” It had nothing to do with interrogation techniques and everything to do with the suspicion that there was someone in QAL playing both sides. In the last few months, as
Hij’Rozhod
continued to evade detection, he’d come to believe it might even be someone on his own team. Dallas wasn’t willing to risk his mission or Lilly’s life trying to confirm that suspicion. “It’s not just about Grebetz, if you get my drift.”

“You mean it’s about the Znedu’s boss?” Lilly asked.

After everything Dallas had said of course it was the one thing Lilly focused on. He turned to look at her, not sure how he should answer her.

“I know who Grebetz’s boss is,” she said. Okay, so that might not be the truth. Lilly
suspected
she’d seen Venair Grebetz’s boss. The hologram of the Braugtot had certainly flustered the otherwise confident Znedu. But if this was a bargaining chip to keep her from QAL headquarters, then she’d go all in.

Dallas walked up to her. “What do you mean you
know
his boss? Have you been hunting him?”

“She’s lying,” Thaegan said. “The witch is trying to buy some time.”

“Shut up, Thaegan.” Dallas kept his dark eyes focused solely on her. Her stomach did a slow roll that had nothing to do with fear.

“Lilly, tell me exactly what you meant,” Dallas said.

“I haven’t exactly been hunting him.”

“How about if you elaborate.” Dallas dragged the words out slowly.

He reached for the dagger in her hand and she gladly handed it over to him. What Lilly needed was for Dallas to trust her. She no longer wanted to get away from this man, quite the contrary as a matter of fact. It had been so long since a human male had touched her with the passion Dallas had, and Lilly wanted more of that even if Dallas didn’t believe she had control over his desires.

“I’ll tell you only if I still get the bounty for Grebetz,” she said bravely. Even male companionship wouldn’t keep her fed.

“I don’t think you’re in a position to make any kind of deal,
Seraphelium
,” Thaegan said.

Dallas turned abruptly to his partner. “Damn it, Thaegan, I’m warning you…” He breathed deeply as if steadying himself before turning back to Lilly. The hard expression on his face mapped emotions she couldn’t read. “Obviously there’s more going on here than we can tell you. We’re both a little on edge. This mission—”

“Oh, cut me some fucking slack.” Thaegan threw his hands in the air. “You may be team leader, but my ass is also on the line here. I don’t think a couple of quickies qualifies her to join the team.”

Dallas’ eyes narrowed to deadly slits. “Not that I have to explain anything to you, Ka’al, but we’re looking for something from her, the least I can do is explain why.”

“Oh, that makes perfect sense,” Thaegan said. “She’s some low-life criminal with a nice set of tits who botched up months of undercover work. And when we stepped in and stop her, she tried to gut you with a knife. When that didn’t work, she took me down with her fucked-up witchery. Then, when we’ve finally got her safely under control, she manages to screw your brains out and get you to release her because you didn’t believe a word I said and you let her get you sidetracked and thinking with your dick. And now we’re not going to interrogate the only person who might have some information we can finally use—because Gods forbid we might get all mean and nasty with a beautiful female who also happens to be a
suspect
.” Thaegan righted the chair where she’d been bound and stuffed his oversized body onto the tiny seat. “And now that I’m all settled into a sweet ringside seat—because I sure as shit don’t want to miss one minute of this crazy-ass show—why don’t we all just play nice in this cozy little sandbox and share a little top secret information? That just about cover it,
partner
?”

“How about if you shut up and let me handle this my way?” asked Dallas.

“You’ve done a bang-up job so far.” Thaegan leaned back, casually folding his hands behind his head. “By all means don’t let me stop you. Seems like your dick’s got one hell of a plan.”

Dallas flipped him the bird before turning back to her. “As I was saying, Lilly, the person we’re looking for may be the key to cleaning up a whole lot of shit that’s been thrown at us over the past couple of years.”

“Eleven months,” Thaegan muttered.

“Fuck you, asshole! I mean really. Fuck you all the way from here to Beta Mrenn.” Dallas trembled with anger.

“I’m just saying. It’s only been eleven months. If you’re going to spill your fucking guts and tell her everything, get your facts right.” Thaegan tipped the chair up on its back legs.

Dallas turned, his teeth grinding as he spoke directly to his partner. “What I was going to tell her was how dangerous this whole situation is and perhaps Lilly would just like to share what she knows and that would be the end of it.”

“Or perhaps Lilly would like to be part of the Znedu’s takedown so she’s guaranteed her cut of the bounty.” Lilly said, sending Dallas a smug smile when he turned to stare her down.

“And there you have it,” the Ka’al added. “Just like that the outlaw joins the team.” Thaegan began clapping.

“She’s not part of the team,” Dallas argued. “Lilly isn’t going anywhere near that takedown.”

“Well, then it looks like you’re on your own, Mr. Government Man. I’m a freaking awesome undercover detective, which is why I’m so good at my job. I can bring the Znedu in myself. But we both know that without my help you’ll be chasing dust trails trying to find Grebetz’s boss.” She crossed her arms under her breasts, challenging him.