Dark Runner: LodeStar 3.5 (13 page)

She wanted to see him too, but couldn’t get a good view of it down between them, except for the broad head, spangled with his arousal. It was gorgeous. “I want you in me
now.”

“Not yet.” He teased her more, his rough finger going just a bit deeper, his gaze holding hers, drinking in every nuance of her reaction.

“Why not? You manipulative—
oh
.”

Her head thumped back against the wall, and she arched in his arms, her pussy spasming with need as he brushed her clitoris again. She tangled her fingers with his, stroking herself, but she needed
more
. She grabbed a handful of his long braids with the other and yanked, hard. “Darkrunner, fuck me or I
will
hurt you.”

He laughed. “Now you’re ready for me.” He reached down and guided the broad head of his shaft into her labia, and then flexed his hips hard, driving up, up into her needy depths.

She froze, impaled on him, her pleasure edged with shock and pain. He was hot and smooth and too quarking big. She might be experienced, but it had been a few months. And he was bigger than the average male.

“Or as ready as a woman can ever be for me,” he said, and began to move. She moaned as his retreating shaft raked nerve endings, and then found new ones as he thrust back in, this time hitting the spot up inside her that sent shivers of impending ecstasy through her pussy.

Goddess, he was having her. Tal Darkrunner, the most dangerous man she’d ever met, was fucking her against the bulkhead of his luxury pirate ship.
 

“Keep those snake eyes open,” he ordered, his hips pistoning up into the cradle of her thighs, their flesh slapping together with a wet, succulent sound. “I want to see you come—all for me.”

She dragged her heavy eyes open and looked into his, riveted by the heat there, which rivaled that of their joining. Mind-fuck, she thought hazily. Not gonna happen.

“You get my body, not my will,” she told him. “But I’ll be happy to take what I want from you.” She tightened her inner muscles around his cock and came hard and long, pleasure thundering in waves where she held him and surging outward through her body.
 

He swore, his thrust changing to a fast and desperate rhythm, every stroke shoving her into the circle of his arm and the bulkhead behind her. “God, yes. Keep squeezing me like that,” he ordered, his eyes narrowing till they were nearly shut. “Fuck,
fuck
... your pussy squeezes tighter than a fist. Now come again, so Darry can watch this time.”

Catching movement from the corner of her eye, Scala turned her head. Darry leaned against the entrance to the passageway, watching them, his melted caramel gaze hot. He smiled slowly at her. Somehow the blend of mischief and lust in his gaze only added to her pleasure. Let everyone see how much Darkrunner wanted her.

Tal laughed again. “Fuck. You like him watching. I knew it.” He lifted her higher against the wall, arching up to take her in long, hard strokes. Scala moaned as her orgasm revved up again.

Then he stiffened in her arms, and she felt his hot come flood her pussy.
 

She came for him, for the man watching them and for herself.
 

Tal slumped against her, his head tipped down on her shoulder, his breath gusting hot on her throat. Her pussy throbbed around his shaft, and she could feel his heart pounding against her chest.

“Trix will be sorry she missed this,” Darry said. Scala laughed breathlessly, drunk on satisfaction and the pleasure of being held
and
admired.
 

Darry palmed the bulge at his groin, and raised his brows, giving her an enticing look. “I don’t suppose ...?”

“No.” She curled her lip at him. “You’re late to the party, mate.”

Tal leaned into her, an odd look in his eyes as he stroked his thumb up her cheek and back down, catching the corner of her mouth and delving in a bit. His rings were smooth and knobbly against her skin. “Also, I don’t know that I want to share you just yet.”

A cold blade of fear and anger pierced her warm glow of satiation like a bubble. Scala lowered her leg and pulled her arms from his neck, wriggling impatiently until he winced and pulled out of her, one hand on his cock.

“One fuck doesn’t mean you own any part of me, Darkrunner.”

She bent to insert her foot in her tights and pull them up, ignoring his semen trickling down her leg. She’d wash later.

When she straightened, Tal still stood before her, fully clothed again. Of course all he’d done was unfasten his pants. Now his gaze held a familiar, mocking gleam. As she straightened the waistband of her tights, he cupped one hand over her breast, and squeezed her nipple between his thumb and forefinger, just hard enough to pinch. It sent an unwelcome thrill of pleasure through her.

“Then I’ll just have learn how to make you want to do as I say, won’t I?” he asked her.
 

Darry grinned as she shoved Tal’s hand aside. “He won’t stop trying,” he agreed cheerfully.

“A lizard may wish for the moon,” she muttered, but inside her the chill spread.
 

Darkrunner would never tame her, never make her one of his inner circle, part of his little coterie, because she couldn’t risk letting him that close. She had to walk away from him before the heat in his gaze turned to the fury of betrayal. To enjoy her freedom, she had to stay alive.

A crease appeared between Tal’s charcoal brows. “Now what’s going through your mind, I wonder.”

She was saved from answering by Dalg’s voice rumbling over the com.

“Boss, you through fucking your new hire for now? We’re approaching the Lure Valley.”

“I am,” Tal agreed. “For now.”

He ducked in to give her another quick kiss and walked away, leaving Scala torn between anger and an aching sense of loss. She curled her hands into fists at her sides. She wished he hadn’t kissed her so softly. Made it hard to summon her anger.

“Arrogant bastard,” she muttered, but the words lacked conviction.

Darry caught her arm as she headed into the passage. “Hey,” he chided. “You should listen to him, Scala. Tal takes care of his people.” He smiled at her and lifted her hand to press a kiss into her palm. “Mm-m, pussy.
Your
pussy.”

She shoved him away with the flat of her palm, but she did it gently. “Voyeur.”

“Exhibitionist,” he shot back with a grin. “See? We’re all perfect together.”

But Scala’s smile disappeared as she walked away from him. Perfect? Yeah, not if they discovered what she was really doing here.
 

She’d end up perfectly dead.

Chapter Eight

The Lure Valley showed up on the
Z’s
holographic readouts as a wide, low valley with an oasis at its heart, and a river running south within an ever-deepening canyon. The oasis was surrounded by trees Tal had seen only on holovids. Tall and slim with central trunks, they had clusters of fringed leaves at regular intervals up the trunk and clusters of large seeds or nuts hanging among the leaves. Lower trees and shrubs grew under them, around a series of pools that had been walled with stones.
 

Tal could see all this clearly because the whole place was lit up like a casino. Except that these lights were placed to highlight gardens, not flashing with advertisements. He guessed they were an advertisement in their own way, shouting ‘Look at this! I have massive amounts of credit!’

Sprawling homes were surrounded by gardens, each with their own pool, bright azure bowls among overhanging shrubbery. Tal grimaced at the thought of climbing into that water. This planet was crawling with reptiles. Who the hells knew what kind of serpent could be lurking under those shrubs, ready to bite bare limbs and maybe even a guy’s privates?
 

He’d never been in water himself, except to showerdry or lounge in a hot whirlbath. Only a hazard-suited diver or an imbecile would venture into the cold, dirty seas around New Seattle.

He pictured his new crew member slipping through this bright water naked, and his cock twitched. Now that he’d like to see, even if he didn’t get in himself. Then he pictured her smirking at him and taunting him for his refusal to do so, and his pleasant fantasy evaporated.

“Scan for large craft,” he ordered, scowling down at the nearest pool, glimmering in the lights.

“Scanning,” said a voice from the dashboard controls.

“There’s a private space port a mile from the oasis,” Dalg said. “We should look there.”

“Good idea. These places don’t seem to have hangars on the roof. Waste of valuable space.”

“Stupid,” Dalg agreed. “Hard to make a quick getaway if you have to wait for your pilot to bring your craft clear from over there.” Dalg stabbed a massive digit at the space port showing on the holovid. On the other side of the hills that rimmed the valley, it was also brightly lit.

“What’s bad for them is good for us,” Tal said. “Makes it easier to spot our target ship. Head to the port, we’ll have a look.”

They landed on the open paved area outside the main building of the small spaceport. A hololink immediately opened over the
Z’s
controls. A Serpentian in a trim uniform smiled politely from inside the lighted office. Pretty, in a tight-assed fashion, hair pulled back and collar buttoned up around her throat.

“Good evening, sir. How may I help you?”

Tal smiled at her. “I’m looking for a business associate. He just flew in from Earth II.”

Her smile turned appreciative, but she gave him a regretful look. “I’m sorry, sir. I can’t divulge information about any arrivals or departures.”

And he didn’t have the energy just now to persuade her to talk. He shrugged. “Well, then I guess I’ll have to wait for him to contact me. Any open hangars?”

She consulted her console and blinked. “No, I’m very sorry, sir. The port is full.”

Tal sighed. She must have run the registration numbers on the
Z
. He sighed as he broke the link.

“Your reputation precedes you, boss,” Darry said behind him.
 

“It has a way of doing that,” Tal agreed. “Fuck ‘em, we’ll spend the night on the desert.”
 

He gestured at the night outside the ship. “Pick a spot, Dalg.”

They took off, but not before Dalg made a very rude gesture at the space port office through the windshield.

He brought the
Z
down again on an open area on the other side of a rocky escarpment. When the cruiser was powered down, Tal rose and followed Darry into the main cabin, where he opened the hatch.
 

“Where are we?” Scala asked, already on her feet.

“Camping out tonight,” Tal answered. “The local port isn’t very hospitable.” He strode down the gangplank into the warm night, ready to get the hells off his ship. He took a deep breath, sampling the dry, warm air. It smelled of cured plants and clean, dry air borne on winds for long distances. However, a faint acrid stench made his lip curl.

“Wait!” Scala yelled.
 

He turned, supremely annoyed at her tone. “You giving the orders now, Snake Eyes?”
 

She ran lightly down the ramp to his side. In the light from the cabin, he saw her roll her eyes. He also noted that her chest was moving quickly with her breaths. Nerves—he’d really frightened her.

“Just trying to keep you alive, Darkrunner. You don’t just walk out into the desert here without knowing damn well what else is out there. There are creatures hunting at night that you don’t wanna meet.”

She smirked, her cheek curving in the light from the cabin. “And on Serpentia, sorry, you’re not the scariest monster in the dark.” She held up a glowlight and shone the beam out at the desert around them

“What is?” asked Darry uneasily, standing a few feet up the ramp.

“Try that,” Scala said, freezing the beam of her light on the sand several meters away under a low, sparse shrub.

Tal looked with deep interest. In New Seattle, he would lead, but here, she knew the perils. His skin tightened in a primal reaction at what he saw, and his hand tightened on the grip of his laser weapon.

Eyes glittered back at them in the light, laser-like in their intensity. Narrow, slanted eyes set in a triangular face above two flat nostrils and an open mouth that revealed two glittering fangs. The head swayed from side to side, rising in the light to reveal a long, sinuous body with markings that echoed the blackness of the night.

“What the fuck is that?” Trix demanded.

“A wraith,” Scala answered. “One of Serpentia’s most dangerous vipers. One bite and powerful venom is coursing through your system. First you’re paralyzed. You can’t move, can’t breathe. Then your heart stops, and finally your central nervous system shuts down. But not before every cell of your body burns in agony from the poison.”

“Shit,” Darry muttered. “Think I’ll stay aboard, thanks very much.”

“I’m with you, lover,” Trix agreed. “That thing is huge!”

Tal brought his laser up, aiming.
 

“No,” Scala protested. “The viper’s just doing what it’s supposed to do—hunting. Serpents have an important place in the ecosystem here. Wasn’t for them, the planet would be overrun with desert bunnies and deerbitt.”