Caught by Menace (25 page)

treatment. Once he’s completed that, his situation wil be

reassessed. It’s likely he’l be moved into a training

position.”

When Orion gestured to the door, Menace took a

step back. His end of the bargain complete, he was

ready to retreat to his quarters. Penny’s hand on his arm

stopped him. She smiled up at him. “Thank you,

Menace.”

He nodded stiffly and watched her enter the hospital

room with Orion. He hoped Flare would be pleased with

her. She seemed like a nice woman. They had a good

chance of being happy together if they could work out

their cultural differences.

As he traversed the ship, Menace couldn’t shake the

conversation he had shared with Dankirk. The man’s

words played on a loop in his head. Dankirk had said

Naya didn’t love him but it was clear her friend loved

her. He seemed extremely protective of her. His

her. He seemed extremely protective of her. His

assertion that being Grabbed was the best thing that

could have ever happened to Naya stil surprised

Menace. There weren’t many men on Calyx who

supported the Grabs.

The memory of the notebook with its coded entries

bothered him. Had he been wrong to take it back and

keep it from Cipher? It felt so intrusive to go through her

private things. They were only just establishing trust

between them. If he sent her notebook back to Cipher

and had him decode it, she would be furious. To her, it

would be a betrayal.

He slipped inside their quarters as quietly as possible

and dropped her bag on the entryway table. He had

hoped to get into their bedroom and undress without

waking her but she was too light a sleeper. The dimmed

lights in their bedroom switched on and she appeared in

the open doorway. He enjoyed the sight of her sleepy

face and mussed hair. “Hey.”

“You’re back early.”

“Zeph flies like a bat out of hel.”

“The woman? She’s okay?”

He nodded. “She’s with Flare now. I think they’re a

He nodded. “She’s with Flare now. I think they’re a

good match.”

Naya grinned. “Better than us?”

“I wouldn’t go that far.”

She started to say something else but her gaze fel on

the entryway table. Shock slackened her face. “Where

did you get that?”

He brushed his fingers across the wel-worn leather.

“A friend of yours.”

“Friend? Jennie?” She sounded so hopeful.

He shook his head. “I met a man named Dankirk

tonight.”

“Danny was the fixer on the job tonight?”

“He was.” Menace held her gaze. “I suppose I don’t

have to ask if you were a member of the Red Feather?“

“I was.” She didn’t even try to lie. “We—they’re—

just political dissidents. They bring medicine and

technology to those who need and want it. They work to

keep elections in The City as fair as possible. They help

get sick people to hospitals in the colonies and aid in

immigration efforts.”

“Ilegal immigration,” he countered. “It’s ilegal to

move people from your planet to the colonies without

move people from your planet to the colonies without

visas and proof of sponsorship from legal citizens of

those colonized instalations.”

Naya crossed her arms. “Are we realy going to have

a political argument at four in the damn morning?”

“No.” Menace sighed. “Here.” He picked up the bag

and held it out. “It’s been searched and cleared.”

She hesitated before walking toward him. “My

pistol?”

He shook his head. “It’s been confiscated. I’l petition

to have it returned as soon as possible. If we get it back,

it goes right into my gun safe, understood?”

“Yes.” She took the bag and hugged it to her chest. “I

never thought I’d see this again.”

“Your friend seemed determined to get it back to

you.” Menace couldn’t help himself. “Was he your

lover?”

“What? Why would you ask me that?”

“Was he?”

“Why? Are you jealous?”

“Naya—”

“Yes, once,” she answered angrily. “Danny and I had

sex once. More than a year ago,” she added. “It wasn’t

sex once. More than a year ago,” she added. “It wasn’t

great but it wasn’t awful. No, he didn’t make me come.

There! Are you satisfied with that answer,
master
?”

She spat the word so harshly that he flinched.

Realizing he had been an absolute jackass, Menace

wiped a hand down his face. “I’m sorry, Naya. I

shouldn’t have asked that.”

“Why the hel do you even care, Menace? Didn’t you

tel me that the past is the past?”

“I did.” Reluctantly he admitted, “Maybe I am jealous.

That man knows you so wel. He knows your secrets.

He’s spent a lifetime with you. How the hel do I

compare with that?”

“You don’t.” She tossed the bag back onto the

entryway table. When she slid her arms around his waist

and leaned her head against his chest, Menace couldn’t

breathe. “We’re building something new and different.

What we had or didn’t have with other people doesn’t

matter. This right here?” She squeezed him. “This is what

matters.”

His eyes closed briefly as the tension in his gut eased.

Her correct assessment of the situation calmed him.

Menace cupped her sweet face and captured her mouth

in a tender kiss. Remembering his earlier promise, he

in a tender kiss. Remembering his earlier promise, he

swept her into his arms. “I’m pretty sure I said we were

going to pick up right here.”

She squirmed in his arms. “Maybe you could get

undressed first. I’ve got the handle of a pistol jamming

right into my butt.”

Menace snorted. “I’ve got something I’d like to jam in

your—”

Naya clapped her hand over his mouth. With

narrowed eyes, she warned, “Finish that sentence and

you’l be sleeping on the couch.”

Chuckling, Menace set her down in their bedroom and

started to strip out of his tactical vest and holsters.

“You’re starting to sound like a wife.”

“Keep it up, Menace. One good kick and you’l

sound like a choirboy.”

“Ouch,” he said with a laugh. Pressing his thumb to the

keypad of the gun safe instaled in his closet, Menace

unlocked and stored away his weapons. He removed his

boots and shed his clothing.

Naked and already hard for Naya, he left the closet

and found her sliding back into bed. The undershirt she

had been wearing had been dropped on the floor. He

had been wearing had been dropped on the floor. He

would have to talk to her about neatness tomorrow.

Desperate to get his hands on her again, he lifted the

bedcovers and slipped in beside her. She came right to

him.

When she tried to throw a leg over him to gain the

more dominant role, he shook his head and pressed her

fuly onto her back. “Not tonight, sweetheart.”

Pinned beneath him, she breathed excitedly but didn’t

fight him. She was getting used to being submissive to

him. Her face flushed and her pupils seemed to dilate.

The instant reaction she had to his dominance over her

made his cock throb.

Menace captured both of her wrists in one hand and

dragged them above her head. He nuzzled her neck. “I’m

going to give you a choice. I’l cuff you to the headboard

or I’l hold you down like this. Either way, I’m going to

fuck you senseless.”

Shuddery breaths breezed across his cheek. “Hold me

down.”

As need raced through him like a wildfire, Menace

claimed her mouth in a possessive, demanding kiss. She

arched under him. Stil gripping her wrists in one hand, he

used the other to caress her silky skin. Her dark nipples

used the other to caress her silky skin. Her dark nipples

were tight peaks now. They begged to be licked and

pinched and sucked.

By the time he’d finished tormenting her breasts with

his mouth and fingers, Naya practicaly sobbed. He let

his hand slide down her bely and forced her thighs wide

open with his knee. His fingers explored her pussy. She

was soaking wet in her desperation for him.

Rising up on his knees, Menace angled his body just

so. His rock-hard cock found its target. He thrust

forward into her welcoming slick heat. Naya cried out

and tried to lift her arms but he held her wrists too firmly.

The knowledge that she was completely at his mercy

rippled through her. He felt it when her pussy clenched

him.

“Now,” Menace said with a teasing lilt, “let’s see how

much it takes for me to convince you that I am your

master…”

“I don’t understand why this is so complicated.” Naya

tried to suppress her frustration with the clerk in the

clothing department but it was proving difficult. “I gave

you the name of the warehouse on Calyx. How hard is it

to import two cases of shirts and pants?”

The older Harcos male shot her a pissed-off look. He

manned his computer console as if he were a sentry

guarding state secrets. “I can’t force them to trade with

us. They won’t meet our terms for import taxes and fees.

Unless you want to pay the difference, those boxes

aren’t leaving Calyx.”

“This is ridiculous.” Naya rubbed her forehead and

tried to think of a way to deal with the red tape. “Look,

where I can get a copy of the trading agreements and tax

fees and al that?”

The man pointed to the scanner on the corner of his

desk. “Scan your chip. I’l have the relevant files sent to

your personal tablet.”

Naya waved her hand in front of the scanner until it

beeped. “Thank you.”

Annoyed, she left the store and made her way into the

retail sector of the ship. Now that she and Menace had

been together for more than thirty days, there was no

issue of her being taken by another male. He had taken

her off restrictions two weeks earlier as long as she had

an escort, usualy Halie because no man on this ship

would dare bother the wife of the general.

Naya glanced around the bustling shopping center.

Her gaze fel on an empty storefront. The idea Halie had

seeded al those weeks ago about opening a store here

had taken hold and sprouted. At the wives meeting

earlier, Naya had confided her dream to Halie. She

planned to familiarize herself with the laws and rules

before she made any concrete plans. Money would

probably be an issue but she had a good chunk waiting

for her in a bank on Safe Harbor. If it was enough and

the laws were in her favor, she would talk to Menace

and see what he thought about her idea.

There was no doubt in her mind that he would support

her. Bit by bit, her sexy sky warrior had chipped away at

the wal she had erected around herself. There had been

the wal she had erected around herself. There had been

arguments in the last month and there were times she

realy wanted to whack him upside the head with the

nearest heavy object, but he truly was the most honest,

loyal man she had ever met.

That he absolutely adored her, even when she was

acting like a raging bitch, stil left her feeling a bit uneasy.

Her experience taught her to be wary of any man who

thought that her waspish tongue was “cute”. She tried to

take their relationship day by day, but it was hard

sometimes. She felt as if the ground was constantly

shifting beneath her feet.

Crossing to the elevator bank, Naya caught movement

out of the corner of her eye. At first she didn’t even see

him but then his one-eyed, scarred face registered. Her

stomach coiled painfuly. What the hel was he doing

here?

Naya hastened her pace and squeezed into the already

filed elevator. She dismissed the irritated glances of her

felow passengers. There was no way she was going to

wait for the next car, not with Creeper McCreepypants

giving her the stink-eye.

A week ago, Naya had overheard Menace talking to

Vicious about Terror and his team leaving on a new

Vicious about Terror and his team leaving on a new

mission. Her eavesdropping had confirmed her suspicion

that Terror was no mere logistics clerk—and that he was

incredibly dangerous to her. Knowing he was back

onboard the
Valiant
made her knees knock together.

While Terror was away and no longer posing an