Whispers in the Dawn (12 page)

From the corner of his eye, Harley saw Eyani give an approving smile, which he hastily covered with a cough. Apparently he enjoyed Odessa’s sassiness, too.

Harley said nothing to Eyani, but his eyes raked over Odessa, assessing any possible injuries. “Are you hurt?”

“I am not, but if I was, it would be no concern of yours.”

Her determined voice sounded like Violette’s. “Damn it, woman.” He didn’t want to play games. Ultimately, her resistance to his aid might cost them both their lives.

“I am a free citizen of Earth,” she said, getting to her feet and drawing herself up to her full height. She knew her hair was gently mussed, and she appeared awkward. “I choose where I go.”

“I am afraid not,” Eyani spoke up. “He does. We are not on your planet, and consequently are not ruled by its laws. Romaydia is not under the Earth’s control, although there is an agreement in place to extradite criminals.”

Surprise siphoned the blood from her face. Harley fisted and unfisted his big hands. The sight of those long fingers and the tension clearly coiled within him made her recall her all too vivid dream of their shared kiss. Against her will, heat built up in the pit of her stomach. She wanted him like she had never wanted another man, yet he was the adversary. An enemy she couldn’t escape.

Fear gripped her. “Please don’t turn me into this Lord Pardua. I’ve done nothing to warrant his anger. I don’t understand why he’s searching for me. I honestly don’t know where Roland is.”

“Harley has no intention of turning you into the Murrach. I believe he wishes to protect you.”

“Didn’t you say earlier that it’s best to stay away from him?” Odessa questioned the Ashtari. Harley noted her indecisiveness and her innocence.

“I did,” the Ashtari replied. “But in your case, he means you no harm.”

Odessa knew Eyani was reading Harley’s mind, but had no idea if Harley knew it. Could she trust the Ashtari to tell the truth?

Harley’s stance was ramrod straight, but his eyes remained fixed on her face.

“I believe,” Eyani continued, “his life might be in danger too.”

“Why?”

Eyani spread his hands out in front of him. “I do not know. Only he knows.”

“You mean you’re not willing to share what you read in his mind.”

“There are some things he must hide to protect himself. If I say what I know, you will know too. Then there will be three who know, instead of only one. And that is two too many,” the Ashtari said carefully.

“So you’re telling me it’s safe to leave with him? That he’ll send me home?”

“I do not believe he has power to send you home just yet. But when he is able, he will do so. He is a man of his word.”

Odessa watched Eyani’s eyes. He had to be telling the truth. Was it safe to leave with Harley, based on Eyani’s thought reading? She had to trust someone in order to get off Romaydia. Harley wasn’t her first choice, but he was her only option.

The Ashtari intervened. “He is being honest, little one. He is your best chance to get off the station.”

Harley recognised then that the gentle Ashtari had read his mind and had known all along who he was. In fact, during the last few months, he was certain, Eyani had known. Yet he’d said nothing. Perhaps the Ashtari mentality was not to snitch on others, but what would prompt him to talk to Pardua? Torture usually did. If Harley’s true identity were known, he would be a dead man within minutes. Pardua didn’t tolerate deception in his ranks.

Chapter Twelve

Odessa swiped her hand through her hair, wishing she had food to fill her belly. She wanted nothing to do with Harley, yet she stood in the middle of the corridor waiting for him to decide what his next move would be. She knew no matter what he asked, she wouldn’t have the answer. She amended that. If he asked her to make love to him, she wouldn’t be able to resist his magnetic charm. He was handsome, and she found him appealing.

Now, she found herself staring at his Adam’s apple, which bobbed up and down as he talked. “Where did Roland Baylon go?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t know he’d stranded me here. I found that out when he’d already left. I don’t know where he’s headed. I don’t know anything.”

His pinched voice brought her attention to his face and the beard shadow growing along the length of his powerful jaw. “Are you all right? You look flushed.”

Goodness, the man was becoming increasingly handsome and mouth-watering by the nanosecond. She swallowed through a dry throat as her vivid dream returned to torment her. The whole vision had been so real—his mouth brushing against her breasts and teasing lower and lower, until she’d begged him to love her. He  slid his cock into her channel and bliss exploded within her. She wanted him exploring and tasting her.

She sighed. Dreams were meant to be fantasised in every detail, from a lingering caress down a taut thigh to lips touching a bare nipple. 

“I’m fine,” she murmured, unable to meet his piercing eyes, relieved he couldn’t read her mind like Eyani could. There would be no end to the explaining she would have to do if he knew she was dreaming of his thrilling hands and lips roaming her naked body.

Unexpectedly, he said, “Why don’t you come back to my chambers, and we’ll get a bite to eat? You must be starved.”

She did feel faint, but not because of a lack of food. Her body had begun to speak a language all of its own. She wanted to get off the station, not embroil herself in a one-night stand. If she ended up in Harley’s chambers, there was little doubt she would end up in his bed if he gave her half the chance. He wouldn’t be like Roland, she assured herself, sharing a few stolen moments with her here and there and then acting in public as if nothing had happened, as if they hadn’t shared a very real experience.

She clapped a hand over her mouth and felt her cheeks become as scarlet as red, delicious apples. “I can’t,” she managed to say from behind her hand.

“You can’t?” he asked, his eyebrows knitting together in a frown. “Do you have a prior engagement?”

She heard the evident disbelief in the question. “Oh, nothing like that.” How could she explain she had been preparing to marry a man this evening, yet here she was thinking of making love to a completely different one? “I was thinking of something else entirely.”

Harley leant forward slightly, lowering his head to hers, his eyes glistening brown orbs in his tanned face. Tiny crinkles marked the corners of his eyes. He smelt of a delicious concoction of pine trees and sheer male essence, a scent that almost drove her beyond the edge of sanity. He reached out and twirled a strand of her hair around his fingers. “Why do you have such a hold on me?” he murmured as if they were alone.

“What are you talking about?” she asked breathlessly. Her dream was coming true. He would make love to her, and she would be powerless to resist. He would ride her hard, not with ice in his eyes but with a warmth she found endearing. He would trail light kisses down her spine and take her from behind and even perhaps play with her anus. She would love that.

“You look so much like my dead wife, yet you’re different. You have a spirit no man can conquer.”

She smiled, and felt her cheeks warm again as his finger strayed to the crown of her ear, smoothing the sensitive skin.

“Come back to my quarters,” he said, his voice low and sexy.

Her mind told her to run, to forget about food and relative safety. Her body warred with her reasoning, telling her Harley’s hands would feel sinfully sensuous against her skin.

Reality disrupted the irrational moment. He wanted information she couldn’t give him. He was the Murrach’s right-hand man. She should go anywhere but with him to his quarters, where he could hold her indefinitely or even kill her. How did she know he hadn’t staged the shooting in the concourse, possibly to frighten her into his arms? Was this all a set-up, a ploy of Roland’s to scare her?

“I have to find a way home,” she replied, pulling abruptly away from his heated touch and wrapping her arms around herself. The air temperature seemed to drop by several degrees.

“I’ll send you home if you tell me where Baylon went.”

In a millisecond, he had changed from a potential lover back into an unrelenting enemy. His expression had hardened, and was now bereft of the very qualities that made him human. Odessa had forgotten just how quickly he could turn ice cold.

“Who are you really?” she asked softly. “What do you really want?”

His lips curled in a tight smile. “To some, I can be the worst enemy they could dream up. To you, I’m trying to be your friend.”

“At a heavy price, no doubt.”

He shrugged, a careless action that did nothing to set her mind at ease.

Odessa backed away. Her spine hit the solid wall behind her, preventing her from moving further. There had to be something else on his mind. He simply couldn’t be made from cold, lifeless metal. Why had she been so stupid as to agree to come with him?

He planted a palm against the wall on either side of her head, trapping her. “All I want is information. I want to know where Roland Baylon planned to go after he landed here.”

“I told you, I have no idea. He simply ditched me here.” She squared her shoulders and barrelled on. He was in a position to help her. If only she could impress upon him that she was telling the truth. “He sent me off on a wild goose chase. When I got back from trying to deliver the package, the ship was nowhere in sight. So I was on my way to find the Air Controller’s offices, and see if he’d docked elsewhere.”

She stretched her arms above her head, dislodging his light hold. “He likes to play jokes. One day, he hid in the ship’s engine room, a place I don’t exactly care to go. It’s got too many conductors and infrared sensors and what have you to make me comfortable. I don’t even pretend to understand all the gizmos spaceships run.

“Roland and I were alone on this small ship. What would have happened if he’d fallen ill? I had no clue as to how to pilot a starship. I almost scared myself to death thinking all these bad things could happen. Then, he jumped out and yelled, ‘Surprise’! When I demanded to know what he had been up to, he blithely replied he had been bored and needed a distraction. Imagine that.”

“Imagine that,” Harley repeated, not moving. Abrupt anger flashed in his eyes.

Odessa blinked. The unspeakable rage lingered. She blinked again, uneasy with the thought of being alone with him. Was he as moody as Roland had been?

He didn’t realise his expression had changed until her face paled. He didn’t want to frighten her, but he couldn’t decide whether he wanted to intimidate her to get the information he so desperately wanted, or whether he wanted to kiss her. The thought frightened him, and he wasn’t a man easily made afraid. Trying to ease the brittle tension, he asked, “What kind of errand did he send you on?”

“He gave me a small brown packet to deliver to Spoke Nine, but I searched forever for the address he gave me. I came to the conclusion it didn’t exist.”

“What was in the packet?”

“I don’t know, and I never got a chance to take a look because you came along, and then we got shot at.”

“What happened to the packet?”

“What is this? The Inquisition?”

“What did you do with the packet?”

“I told you, I lost it.”

Was it too late to search for the package? What could have been in it? Quite possibly, Baylon had treated Odessa as his drug carrier. “Do you remember what address Baylon sent you to?” he asked, keeping the simmering rage from his voice when he mentioned the man’s name.

“Spoke Nine, room three-twelve.”

“I want you to show me where you went.”

“Don’t you get it?” she asked, her voice rising. “There is no such room.”

Was she toying with him again? “How heavy was the packet?”

“I refuse to answer any more of your questions without a lawyer present.”

He watched as she lifted her pert nose in the air. “There are no lawyers on Romaydia. The judge and jury are all one man.”

“Lord Pardua,” Odessa breathed.

“So if you want to talk to him instead of me, then go ahead,” Harley bluffed. He didn’t want to scare her. No, he’d much rather lift her chin and kiss her eyelids.

She gnawed on her lower lip, enticing him to her as surely as the Murrach snared those who were hungry for more drug-dealing money. “Forget what I said about the lawyer. How do I get off this piece of junk metal?”

“I want you to show me where Baylon sent you.”

She pointed a finger in the general direction of where she remembered Spoke Nine was. “Over there.”

“Show me.”

She waved goodbye to Eyani, said “Thank you,” and she marched off towards the spoke’s entrance. Harley raced after her, casting a glance over his shoulder. Was anyone spying on them? It was hard to tell in the thick crowd, but no one stood out as suspicious.

He wondered again how Odessa had managed to heal the bullet wound in her stomach so quickly. Was it conceivable she was not wholly human? Baylon couldn’t have made a better choice than to engage a robot who appeared to be a woman to run drugs for him? Had he left her here to run interference while he travelled elsewhere, to sell the drug shipment he had so neatly stolen from Pardua?

They were about to pass a Delorican and a human when Harley heard a snippet of their conversation. “I was told they’re shutting the station down at two, standard time. It’s a precautionary measure, I think.”

“Against what?” the human asked the Delorican.

Harley tugged on Odessa’s arm and halted her, placing his index finger against his lips in a shushing motion. She stopped suddenly; her hair swirled enticingly in a half arc before resting against her shoulders. She glared at him. “I thought you wanted to retrace my route.”

He nodded in the direction of the conversation.

The Delorican continued. “There seems to be some kind of viral infection they’re scanning for.”

Odessa gave a little squeak, and her eyes went as wide as a half dollar.

“How did you learn about this?”

“A written message was sent to our ship.”