Caught by Menace (7 page)

raw sexuality. If any man in the universe could coax two

orgasms out of her, it was probably this one.

To be at his mercy terrified her. Could she realy trust

To be at his mercy terrified her. Could she realy trust

a man she’d known less than a day to make love to her?

She examined his honest face. He’d promised he would

never hurt her and she believed him. The way he’d taken

down those canes was proof enough of his desire to be

good to her. The cynic in her screamed that it was al for

show, but she didn’t believe that. He’d come in here with

a white flag of surrender. That had to count for

something.

Her gaze jumped to the cold metal table where his

hand rested. She shook her head. “Not there.”

His eyes widened slightly. He seemed just as surprised

by her acceptance of his offer as she was in giving it.

Was she realy going to do this? Was she realy going to

let this stranger touch her?

“Al right.” Menace gestured around the room. “Pick a

spot that seems comfortable.”

Gulping nervously, Naya gripped the tough fabric of

the uniform shirt covering her nakedness and scanned the

room. She spotted a black couch-like contraption against

the other wal. It had a curved shape, the sleek fabric

gently sloping and roling like an S. It looked comfortable

enough and as close to a bed as she was going to get.

enough and as close to a bed as she was going to get.

“What about that?”

Menace folowed her pointing finger. “I think that’s a

perfect choice. Come with me.”

She gazed at his outstretched hand. Asking her to

come with him seemed a huge improvement over being

Grabbed and tossed over his shoulder. She gathered her

courage and placed her hand in his. She gripped his

fingers. “Don’t make me regret trusting you.”

His lips twitched in a smile. “Never.”

Naya let him tug her along beside him. When they

reached the big curving couch, he dropped her hand and

moved to one of the cabinets lining the wal. He tossed

the flogger with the wide, soft strands onto the

countertop. He opened a bottom door and retrieved a

wedge-shaped cushion that he placed in the lowest curve

of the couch.

“To support your back,” he explained. “You Calyx

women are a lot smaler than our women. So many of

our supplies are made with them in mind but the

manufacturers are starting to add supplements like these

to make them work for your kind.”

Naya anxiously nibbled on her thumb. She’d just

noticed the numerous loops adorning the edges of the

noticed the numerous loops adorning the edges of the

odd furniture piece. There was only one reason for them

and it wasn’t decorative. “Are you going to cuff me

again?”

“Why do you sound so worried? You stil have that

hairpin, right?” Menace glanced at her and smiled as he

secured the extra cushion in place. “Do you want me to

cuff you?”

She shook her head and pinched the pin between her

fingertips. “No.”

“Why not?”

She blinked. “Because it’s weird.”

He frowned at her and gestured for her to hand over

the hairpin. She hesitated before giving it to him. He

slipped it into his pocket. “Weird? That’s not very

helpful. Do you mean uncomfortable? Do you mean

frightening?”

“Al three,” she replied. “It’s weird that a grown man

wants to cuff a woman and restrain her for sex. Where I

come from, men restrain women so they can hurt them.

It’s as simple as that.”

“But what if I ask for your permission to restrain you

and I promise not to hurt you?”

and I promise not to hurt you?”

She couldn’t help but laugh. “Are you trying to

negotiate with me? You realize that I ran one of the most

successful shops in Connor’s Run, right? You can’t beat

me when it comes to negotiation.”

Menace looked surprised. “I didn’t know that you

were a businesswoman.”

“You didn’t ask.”

He had the decency to look chagrined. “You’re right.

What did you sel?”

“Everything and anything I could make a profit on, but

my main business was pawning.”

“That’s loaning money, right?”

She nodded. “A customer brings in something of value

and asks for a loan. I keep the item until they repay the

loan plus a smal amount of interest. If they don’t come

back for the item, I sel it in my shop. Simple. Easy.

Uncomplicated.”

“Were you very wealthy?”

Naya laughed. “Hardly.”

“But you said your business was successful.”

“It was, but the only way to get wealthy on Calyx is to

deal dirty and do people wrong. That’s not my style. No,

deal dirty and do people wrong. That’s not my style. No,

I ran a clean shop and treated my customers right. I

earned a comfortable living.”

“What happened to your shop?”

“I sold it the morning they announced the lottery

results and had the money transferred to a bank in the

city. A friend of mine wil transfer it to the colonies in a

week’s time.”

His eyebrows arched. “You must realy trust this friend

to give him complete control of your funds.”

“I do.”

“More than me?”

She eyed him carefuly. “You’re not my friend.”

“I could be,” Menace countered. “I could be more

than your friend.”

More than her friend? Her lover? Her confidant? Her

support system? She doubted any man would ever be

able to be al of those things to her. “You’re my captor.

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”

Menace grunted in annoyance. “I thought we were

past that.”

“How about we go back to your planet and I’l hunt

you down and take you back to Calyx where you’l be

you down and take you back to Calyx where you’l be

my property. Let’s see how quickly you get beyond

that.”

“Fair enough,” he finaly conceded. “But we are

together now. You’re mine. That colar around your neck

makes us mates.”

Naya fingered the offensive circle of white leather.

Rather glumly, she said, “Not exactly a silver wedding

band, is it?”

Menace instantly perked up. “Would you like one? If

it would make things easier between us, I’l get two in the

morning and find someone to perform a ceremony.”

His enthusiastic response shocked her. She hurriedly

shot him down. “No, I don’t want to get married.”

His face fel. “I see.”

Seeing the hurt etched on his face made her ache.

“No, I don’t think you do. Marriage is forever. It’s a real

commitment.”

“I made a real commitment to you the moment I put

that colar around your neck.”

“We must have different ideas of what commitment

means. Where I come from, it means love and affection

and dating and laughter and al that wonderful stuff.”

and dating and laughter and al that wonderful stuff.”

Judging by the look on his face, she was only making

things worse by pointing out everything they didn’t share.

“Look, I’m sure you’re a nice guy, but I don’t plan to

stick around here.”

“Are we back to that? To threats of escape?” He

shook his head. “It’s a foolish dream, Naya. No one

ever escapes. Ever.” He reached out and grasped her

hand. His fingers brushed the raised bump along her wrist

where they’d implanted one of their damn ID chips.

“You’re being tracked around the clock. You’re on

restrictions until I give word to security. You can’t even

get out of this room.”

His words circled round and round in her head. The

ominous threat left her sick and cold. She snatched her

hand away and turned her back on him. “You’re a real

miserable bastard, you know that?”

A long, painful moment of silence stretched between

them. When Menace’s hands touched her shoulders, she

flinched. Dwarfed by his big, hard frame, she couldn’t

run. Maybe she didn’t want to run. It was maddening

realy. One moment she wanted to bop him right in the

nose for being so infuriating. The next she wanted to fal

back against him and enjoy the strength of his arms

back against him and enjoy the strength of his arms

holding her tight.

Menace gently kneaded her tight shoulders, his

powerful hands easily manipulating her sore muscles. His

body heat penetrated the fabric of the uniform shirt she

wore and soothed her raw nerves. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t

have said that.”

“It’s the truth.”

“It is, but now you think I’m a controling jerk.”

“To be fair, I thought that before you told me about

the chip implanted in my wrist.”

He snorted with amusement. “Thanks.”

A white-hot frisson pierced her core as his thumb

stroked the side of her neck. Trying to ignore the

wonderful sensation he caused, she asked, “Why are you

so intent on keeping me? Why not let me go and try

again at the next Grab?”

“I want
you
. I’m
keeping
you.”

Recaling his ugly remark in the forest, she wondered

aloud, “Even though I’m just the consolation prize?”

His hands stiled on her shoulders. With one swift step,

he moved in front of her. Hands cupping her face,

Menace gazed down at her, his expression one of

Menace gazed down at her, his expression one of

concern. “Naya, do you think I meant that?”

“You said it,” she snapped back. “I learned a long

time ago to believe what people tel you, even if it’s said

jokingly.”

“Naya, I
was
joking. I was smiling when I said it.”

“Yeah, wel, I couldn’t exactly see your face, could

I?” she grumbled unhappily. “You’d thrown me over

your shoulder, remember?”

“Yes.” He exhaled roughly and wiped a hand down

his face. “I can’t seem to get anything right with you.”

Naya noticed the vulnerability in his expression. The

depth of his remorse left her questioning everything she’d

believed about this man and his culture. Sure, he’d

Grabbed her, gagged and restrained her in flight and

cuffed her to a chair in this torture chamber, but he

hadn’t shown her any violence, not even when she’d

struck him first. She’d been rude and nasty and had

verbaly abused him so badly his felow soldiers had been

laughing openly—and stil he hadn’t raised his voice with

her.

It occurred to her that maybe she was the one who

had everything wrong. Al along she had considered

escaping to the colonies the ultimate goal in her life, that

escaping to the colonies the ultimate goal in her life, that

only in Jesco or Safe Harbor could she find happiness.

What if she’d been wrong? What if Danny’s tale of the

Artist who was Grabbed living a life of luxury and

happiness was true? What if
this
was her chance?

Fingers trembling, she placed a hand on Menace’s

chest. His pale eyes flashed with uncertainty. Considering

how badly she had behaved, he probably thought she

was going to strike him or try to shove him backward to

flee. She held his gaze and rose on tiptoes to kiss him.

He was stil much too tal for her to reach his mouth but

he got the message and dipped his head.

Their lips finaly touched. The bright burst of bliss filed

her chest with such warmth. For the first time since

meeting Menace, she relaxed completely. His lips were

softer than she’d expected and moved gently across

hers. She put her other hand on his chest and gripped the

thin fabric of his undershirt. His scent, completely natural

and unadorned, filed her nose. He smeled of man and

soap and nothing else.

As if he feared spooking her, Menace cautiously

placed his hands on her neck and face. He caressed her

skin with his caloused fingers. The rough sensation of his

fingertips gliding over her neck and cheek ignited her

fingertips gliding over her neck and cheek ignited her

desire. She couldn’t remember ever being this aroused

by a man. Maybe it was the danger of the unknown or

the primal maleness of Menace, but she practicaly

vibrated with lust.

His tongue stabbed between her lips. She welcomed

the invasion with a swipe of her own. His heavy breaths

fanned her face. Their tongues dueled, but Naya quickly

realized this was a battle she wasn’t going to win. She

didn’t want to win it. For the first time in her life, she

wanted
to give up control.