Caught by Menace (23 page)

“I plan for the worst.”

“Clearly.”

Menace moved closer to the couch and brushed his

fingertips along her face. He wore thick fingerless tactical

gloves. The acrid scent of the fabric made her nose

twitch. “There’s food in the refrigeration box and the

pantry.”

She grasped his hand and rubbed the underside of his

bare wrist. “I’m not five, Menace. I pretty sure I can

figure out how to make something to eat.”

“Sorry. You’re right.” He bent down and kissed her

long and hard, leaving her wanting and filed with need.

“When I get back, we’l pick up right there.”

His promise sent ripples of excitement through her

core. “If you keep this up, I won’t be able to walk by the

end of the week.”

Menace grinned. “Is that a dare?”

She snorted and smacked him. “You’re incorrigible.”

“And you’re too sexy for your own good.” Menace

“And you’re too sexy for your own good.” Menace

kissed the crown of her head. “You can use the tablet to

control the entertainment center.” He paused. “You might

want to stay away from the nine-hundred range.”

“Why?”

“It’s pornography.”

“Pornography? You mean…?”

He nodded. “Yes.”

“I see.”

“Have you ever seen pornography?”

Her ears grew hot. “Yes. I came across racy pics and

magazines back in Connor’s Run. They’re sold in back

aleys and bars. Teenage boys trade them as currency to

buy cigarettes or whatever.”

“But you’ve never seen a film?”

“Until this afternoon when you showed me that,” she

gestured to the big flat screen built into the living room

wal, “I’d only ever seen short government films

projected on white sheets in the town square.”

“We’l have to watch one together.”

“What?” Now her face was as hot as her ears. “No. I

don’t think so.”

“I wasn’t asking.”

“I wasn’t asking.”

She pursed her lips. “You’re a pervert.”

“And you love it,” he said with a laugh. He retreated

to the entryway. “I’m locking the door. You won’t be

able to leave unless there’s an emergency.”

She tried not to dwel on the fact that he was basicaly

keeping her prisoner. After what she had learned from

Halie about the lost property laws, Naya had no desire

to explore the ship on her own. Another more troubling

thought rushed to the forefront of her mind. “Can anyone

else get in here?”

“Only Vicious,” he said. “He’s my emergency contact

and yours. You’d have to let anyone else in the door.”

“Good.”

“What has you so worried?” Menace tilted his head.

“Is it the pamphlets and al that business about the

property laws and stealing wives? Because I can tel you

right now, Naya, there isn’t a man on this ship stupid

enough to try to break into my home to steal you.”

What about Terror, she wanted to ask. He definitely

wasn’t stupid, but Naya felt sure he was brazen enough

to do it. Over lunch, she had cautiously pumped Menace

for info on Terror. He had said the one-eyed soldier was

for info on Terror. He had said the one-eyed soldier was

a logistics clerk, but Naya had silently caled bulshit on

that. The secret police down on Calyx also had similarly

innocuous

titles.

Janitors,

sanitation

workers,

maintenance men—they were occupations no one gave

much thought and men who were overlooked on the

street. It was the perfect cover.

“Naya?” His gentle voice caled to her.

“Yes?”

“Try to relax tonight. Enjoy the quiet time. Watch

something sily or fun.”

“I’l try.”

He shot her one last sinfuly sexy smile before walking

out of view. She heard a few quick beeps before the

door opened and closed. The loud locking mechanism

made her feel fractionaly more secure. Alone with her

thoughts, Naya hugged her knees to her chest and

tapped the screen of the entertainment console.

Menace’s suggestion to find an entertaining program

seemed like a good one. Anything to rid her mind of the

worry her run-in with Terror had caused.

But not even the melodramatic program on the screen

could tear her thoughts away from the man who

threatened her most. Oh, the two sisters fighting over the

threatened her most. Oh, the two sisters fighting over the

man who had proposed to one but gotten the other

knocked up was interesting enough but those worries

about Terror wouldn’t leave her.

What could she do? Trust Menace with the secret that

could send her to prison? She doubted there was

anything he could do to help her even if he knew what

she had done. Whether he would want to help her was

the real question. The thought of being betrayed by

Menace cut deeply. She had known him a very short

time but already she was beginning to care for the green-

eyed sky warrior.

Naya reached for the tablet again and found the

information browser Menace had shown her earlier. She

tapped at the screen and entered her search term. A few

seconds later, dozens of results appeared. It was going

to be a long night of reading.

Menace worked his jaws in a rhythmic motion,

smashing the citrus-flavored gum between his teeth as

they waited for the fixer Vicious had arranged via Halie’s

contacts on the planet. It had been some time since he

had been on a live mission off the
Valiant
but the old,

wel-honed instincts never realy died. He had easily

adjusted to the eerie yelow-green night vision projected

by the tactical glasses he wore. Keeping the nose of his

weapon down, he stayed on alert, ready to raise it and

fire at the first sign of trouble.

The life-sign sensor on his wrist shot a signal to Cipher

who waited back on the ship Zephyr had expertly and

silently piloted into the smal clearing outside Harper’s

Wel. As the tech expert on the SRU team, Cipher

monitored various streams of information including team

positions, radar bursts of the surrounding vicinity and

radio traffic from the
Guardian
, a smal gunship currently

in the airspace nearest them. The tech specialist was also

a damn good shot and frighteningly good at improvising

explosive devices on the fly.

explosive devices on the fly.

Up and to his left, Venom had taken a sniper position.

One of the top three shooters in the entire Harcos force,

Venom was exactly the kind of man Menace wanted

watching over them. He had seen Venom in action during

the Sendarian siege eleven years earlier. The man had

gone above and beyond the cal of duty to keep the

enemy away from the gated city and buy enough time for

much needed supply drops to reach their pinned-down

forces.

Twenty yards in front of him, Raze waited to make

first contact. His relaxed posture hid the tension Menace

was certain the SRU team leader felt. The most skiled

negotiator Menace had ever met, Raze often fooled

people with his easy smile and gentleness. At a moment’s

notice, Raze could become one of the most deadly

soldiers imaginable.

“Two incoming life signs at the perimeter mark.”

Cipher’s calm voice filed Menace’s ear. The specialist

spit out a positional reading and Menace adjusted his

body accordingly. “Contact in ten, nine, eight…”

“Stop there,” Raze loudly and clearly ordered. “Hands

in the air. Face away from me.”

in the air. Face away from me.”

Two members of the SRU team who Menace wasn’t

very familiar with came forward from their positions to

secure the two and bring them forward. Cipher activated

the smal hovering lights they had set up earlier to

iluminate the area. Menace pushed his night vision

glasses on top of his head and blinked a few times to

clear his vision.

His gaze fel to the young woman first. She had pale-

blonde hair that hung to her waist and wore loose-fitting

pants and a tunic. He pegged her age in the same range

as Naya’s. From this distance, she looked pretty. He

hoped Flare would approve.

The man caught Menace’s attention next. Though he

looked short next to Raze, he was actualy tal for a

Calyx male. He held a bag in one hand. Menace thought

it was the woman’s at first but she gripped a brown one

tightly.

“Menace.” Raze’s voice dinged in his ear. “Come on

up.”

Menace crossed the distance with quick, hard strides.

At Raze’s side, he nodded at the woman. “Ma’am, I’m

Menace and I’ve been charged with escorting you safely

to Flare.”

to Flare.”

She offered a meek smile. “Thank you.”

He reached for her bag. “Let me take this for you.”

He pointed to the man’s hand. “Is that yours also?”

She shook her head. “No. It’s for someone else.”

“Someone else?” Menace’s chest tightened. Was

another woman hoping to hitch a ride?

“The name’s Dankirk.” The man offered his hand but

Menace frowned at it. “Right,” he said quietly and

dropped his hand. “Look, a friend of mine was taken

during the Connor’s Run Grab. I’d like to get her bag to

her.”

Menace wavered. Most women usualy brought a

smal bag to the Grabs and those bags were taken to the

processing line so they could join their owners on their

new ships and homes. Sometimes bags were lost or left

behind. Naya hadn’t had one with her but the woman

who had packed that one probably missed it a great

deal.

With a sigh, Menace reached for the bag. “What is the

woman’s name?”

The man, Dankirk, started to hand it over. “My

friend’s name is Naya.”

friend’s name is Naya.”

There was no suppressing the jerk of surprise that

shook him. He held tight to the bag’s handle. “Naya?”

“Have you met her? She’s about this tal and has dark

hair and brown skin.”

“I’ve met her.” Menace yanked the bag out of the

man’s hand and crooked two fingers at him. “You. With

me. Now.”

Dankirk didn’t hesitate to folow but kept a safe

distance. When they were in as much privacy as could be

found in the clearing, Menace asked, “How do you

know Naya?”

The man chortled. “I think the real question here is

how the hel do
you
know her?”

“She’s my wife. I Grabbed her.”

The man’s eyes widened. “You?”

“Yes.” Menace narrowed his eyes. “You have a

problem with that?”

“That depends,” Dankirk replied. “Have you hit her?

Are you going to hit her?”

“I’ve never harmed a woman in my life. I don’t plan to

start with my wife.”

Dankirk studied him a moment. “She’s very important

Dankirk studied him a moment. “She’s very important

to me. I need to know she’s safe.”

“She is.”

“I want her to be happy. Fuck knows she never found

happiness here.”

Menace wondered if this was where Naya had

learned her rather bad habit of cursing. “I plan to do

everything in my power to make her happy.”

“You better.”

Menace wanted to chuckle at the man’s empty threat

but the look on Dankirk’s face stopped him. It was clear

he felt something very strong for Naya. A painful

sensation twisted his gut. What if this man had been

waiting for Naya to reach the safe zone so he could

whisk her away to the colonies? “Does she love you?”

The man laughed, the sound harsh and angst-ridden.

“Not in the way you’re thinking and not in the way I’ve

always wanted. I’m sure you’ve figured this out, but

she’s not exactly the kind of girl who fals in love or trusts

easily—and with good reason.”

“Her family—”

“They’re shits. Even her sainted father,” Dankirk

added. “I know she remembers Tom as being her hero,

but he was the farthest thing from it to anyone else who

knew him. With al his debts and shady dealings, he

made it impossible for her to have a normal life after his

death.” Dankirk inhaled a sharp breath. “The best damn

thing that ever happened to her was being Grabbed by

you. Don’t fuck that up for her. She’s got a new life, a

new start. She deserves it.”

Taken aback by the intensity of the man’s remarks,

Menace remained quiet and let it al sink in. “I’l take

care of her. You needn’t worry.”

“Do you promise?”

“She is precious to me. I give you my word that I wil

protect and care for her.”