No Quarter (Bounty, Book One) (6 page)

“You gonna put in the coordinates so we can get going?”

Gar rolled his eyes before returning his attention to the navigation control. “We are still a few minutes out from the gate. I’ve input the code you gave me and it’s feeding the rendezvous point into the nav system now.”

“So, that means we have time to talk?”

“I have nothing to say to you, Wolf.” The retort was a quick and practiced reflex.

Faolan pressed his hand to his heart. “You wound me. I’m good enough for you to shove your cock up my ass, but not good enough to converse with? Really, most people would say you have your priorities backward…but I’m never one to turn down great sex.”

He’d meant the snap response to be teasing, but Gar squirmed in his chair, a light blush creeping across his pale cheeks. “Sorry,” Gar muttered.

Whoa.
“For what, hunter? I’m just harassing you. Bit of fun.”

The computer chose that moment to pop to life, warning sensors echoing loudly in the small quarters. The static beacon markers floated in a straight line in space, leading directly to the dimension gate. They started to shift, adjusting to the
Geilt
’s size and shape the closer they got.

Gar’s body relaxed as he began to move the ship into position. “We’re approaching the dimension gate now. You might want to strap in to be safe.”

“Not confident in your ability to get me through in one piece?” he asked as he sat up and slipped the restraint across his chest.

“Been a while since you’ve been on a personal cruiser, hasn’t it?”

“Well, there was that one time a few years ago with the Damarian freighter captain. She had legs that went on for light-years and the biggest set of—”

The jerk of the ship flying into the dimension gate sent Faolan’s head snapping back hard against the seat. The crack of his skull connecting with the hard seat echoed in his ears as the world around him spun. Outside, space folded in on itself as the fabric of the universe split open, allowing the ship to slide effortlessly through. The effects of the dimension jump were increased in the small ship—the thinning of the air, the slight electrical charge filling the cabin, the way his skin felt hot and cold at the same time. The whole thing left Faolan breathless and dizzy by the time they had passed through to the other side. It was the only reason why he didn’t immediately notice Gar’s hysterical laugher.

“The look on your face,” the younger man managed to get out in between peals of laughter.

Faolan really liked the sound. Putting on an exaggerated frown, he twisted in his chair and rubbed the back of his head. “Do you always laugh at the misfortune of others? If that’s so, I might have to reconsider our working arrangement.”

Gar’s laugh petered into a soft chuckle, one punctuated by side looks at Faolan. “No, not normally.”

There it was! A crack in the ice encasing the bounty hunter and
Faolan
had caused it. It shouldn’t please him so much, but the soft smile Gar gave him did something odd to his insides.

The computer beeped again, capturing Gar’s attention. “We’re clear of the gate and your disk is feeding the next set of coordinates. How many more jumps?”

“Two.”

Gar nodded. “It will take some time. The
Geilt
is fast, but the engines need time to reset.”

The idea of being alone with Gar for the next few days suddenly didn’t seem so painful. “So how long do we have to wait until we can make it to the next gate?”

“Ten hours.”

Not nearly enough time for what Faolan wanted to do—peel away Gar’s layers and examine what was beneath. He had a feeling no one had managed to get far below the surface of this guy in a long time. Perhaps Jason, but Faolan doubted he wanted to screw Gar. Maybe he did—who knew anymore. Faolan had a feeling he could spend months with Gar and still not know much about the young man. He’d have to make the most of the next few days—it would do, for a start.

Running a finger down the length of his throat, Faolan gave Gar his most seductive grin. “Whatever shall we do to pass the time?”

He kept his gaze fixed on Gar, knowing the other man wouldn’t miss the invitation. Part of Faolan hoped he’d take him up on it right away. With the erotigen still lingering in his system, the sex would be
amazing
. Surprisingly though, there was another part of him that hoped Gar would say no. The chase was proving just as entertaining as the catch—a rare occurrence in Faolan’s considerable experience. For the first time in a long time, he wanted to find out more about a lover. Shit, this was the first time in years he actually wanted to be with someone more than once. And wasn’t
that
an interesting twist of events.

Gar seemed to be fighting his own internal battle, if the frown on his face was anything to go by. It made him look much younger than he had earlier. Rarely did Faolan ever see such rigid adherence to rules, combined with such deadly determination and precision in one who did his best to look ageless. It was off, wrong and Faolan couldn’t imagine what had happened to make Gar this way.

“How old are you?” Faolan asked as he slipped the seat’s restraint from his body.

Gar’s eyes snapped open wide and he twisted to face him. “What?”

Faolan chuckled. “You’d think I’d just asked you to fuck your grandmother. How
old
are you? It shouldn’t be that challenging a question.”

Gar opened and closed his mouth several times before shaking his head. “Why do you want to know?”

Faolan rolled his eyes. “Thought it might be nice to get to know you a bit, hunter. But if it’s that big a deal, forget I asked. I’ll take advantage of the time to have a shower.”

He didn’t wait to see if he had Gar’s permission to use the facilities. He knew they were located on the other side of the secured door. It didn’t even matter he didn’t have the security code to gain access either—a locked door had never stopped him in the past. Getting to his feet, he left the cockpit, smiling when he realized the door didn’t slide shut as he left.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Faolan didn’t have to turn around to know there was a scowl on Gar’s face.

“Shower. Remember, you promised I could use it once we jumped?”

“I told you, you can’t go—”

Faolan spun on his heel. “Right, your bloody fucking rules. Do you honestly expect me to sit here on this ship for three days and stay in this room? No shower, no clothing, no food?”

Gar’s teeth were clenched so hard, Faolan could hear the grinding from across the room. “I expect you to respect my home.”

“How many times do I have to say it? Respect is—”

“Earned, I know. I’ve been a gracious host.”

“Hello, knife to my throat?”

“You were snooping in my things.”

“Gods, you’re bitchy.”

“Fuck you, pirate.”

“You’ve already done that, hunter. Not sure if I want a repeat performance if this is how you are afterward.”

Faolan crossed his arms and leaned against the wall beside the door that led to the private quarters of the ship. They weren’t at an impasse so much as he refused to give Gar a way out. In many ways, the younger man reminded him of how he’d been after escaping his home planet years ago—scared to death to let anyone get too close. Keeping people at arm’s length hadn’t helped though. The sooner Gar realized that then the sooner he’d be able to lead a somewhat normal life. As normal as a bounty hunter who roamed the far reaches of this galactic sector could at any rate.

Gar’s hands were balled tight by his sides. Faolan knew he’d put the concealed blades back on, but wasn’t sure if he was now debating using them or if the twitch of his wrists was an unconscious habit when he felt threatened.

Faolan thrust a hip out to the side, the dried cum on his skin stretching and cracking, causing him to frown.

“Look, I’m sorry I’ve thrown such a glitch into your perfectly working system. If you want to contact Jason and have someone else deal with this that’s fine by me. But if you’re going to see this through, I’d like to have a shower. Maybe steal a clean shirt from you. I’ll let you watch me the whole time, if it makes you feel any better. No tricks, no games.”

Gar muttered something sounding unsurprisingly like a curse before he marched across the room and pressed a code into the panel. “If you touch anything—”

“I’ll cut my own balls off and hand them to you. You won’t have to worry about a thing.”

He rolled away from the wall and went to move past Gar when a hand on his shoulder stopped him. Looking up fast, he was surprised by the openness he saw in Gar’s eyes.

“I’m twenty-four.”

Gods almighty.
“You’re just a kid.”

“Hardly.” Gar motioned with his chin. “Shower is through there, Captain.”

Faolan found it hard to reconcile Gar’s reputation with the man standing before him. At twenty-four Faolan himself had barely gotten a position on a ship, let alone earned the reputation Gar had achieved.

“Captain?” Gar frowned, his hand slipping from Faolan’s shoulder.

He mentally shook himself and forced a grin. “Better have enough hot water on this bucket. I hate it when it runs cold halfway through. I plan on taking my time. Been ages since I’ve had a good long shower.”

Gar rolled his eyes, but otherwise didn’t respond. Instead of puzzling over the man himself, Faolan concentrated on uncovering the secrets of his ship. He followed Gar down a short, wide corridor lined with four doors. One had a red light above it, indicating the passageway to systems and engineering. Gar led him to the last one on the left. Instead of a code, he pressed his thumb to a panel.

“DNA scanner?” Faolan crowded him to look over his shoulder.

“Thinking of cutting off my thumb?”

“I would rather die than damage those talented digits.”

That earned him another chuckle. Faolan rested his chin on Gar’s shoulder, mirroring their earlier position. “You should do that more often.”

“What?”

“Laugh. It sounds…nice.”

Gar turned and cocked an eyebrow. “
Nice?
”

“I’d say sexy, but I’m fearful of my life.”

Gar’s lips twitched, but he managed to hold back the smile. “I’ll accept sexy over
nice
. I’m not a
nice
man.”

Neither of them moved for a moment. Faolan wanted nothing more than to wrap his arms around Gar and hold on.
Fuck, what the hell was wrong with him?

Straightening, he pulled back, not wanting Gar to notice his reawakening erection. “Where’s the shower again?”

Gar cleared his throat. “Yeah. Right through here.”

Back straight, Gar moved stiffly through the room. It took Faolan’s brain a little over fifteen seconds to realize they were in Gar’s bedroom. By the time he was ready to take advantage of the location, they’d already walked through to the bathroom.

“Shower is there. It’s recycled water heated by the ship’s engines, so you won’t have to worry about it getting cold. It’s also purified so you won’t have to worry about catching anything. I’ll get you a clean shirt and bring it in.”

“Not going to watch?” Faolan winked at Gar, sliding the jacket from his shoulders. “I can be quite entertaining when I need to be.”

Again, Faolan preened as Gar stared at his naked chest. He popped open the fly of his pants, giving his hips a shake until they slid down over his hips.

Gar looked away, bracing his hand against the doorframe. The reach was high enough, his suit jacket pulled tight across his biceps. “I’ll get that shirt.”

Before Faolan had a chance to tease him further, Gar moved and left the room.

Shit.

Chapter Five

Gar’s head ached. His balls ached too, which was surprising considering how hard he’d come only a short time ago. With his back to the shower room, he made his way over to the wall closet. Pressing the button to release the clothing drawer, Gar rummaged through until he found a clean undershirt. It wasn’t new, but he didn’t think Faolan would be comfortable in one of his dress shirts. The image of the older man wearing one of the crisp shirts sent an involuntary shiver through him. Closing his eyes, he sucked in a deep breath and tried to calm the chaos in his head.

Faolan had only been on his ship for a few hours and Gar felt like his life was splitting apart. No one pushed him like the pirate—no one had ever looked beyond the suits and the blades enough to know how. Even Jason, with all of his lessons over the years, hadn’t bothered to get too close. Gar was a tool, a means for Jason to accomplish whatever ends he determined relevant. While Jason certainly had been there for him, offering a certain measure of support and guidance since his father’s death, there was still a barrier between them. Not that it mattered to Gar—he liked the solitude.

He wasn’t ready for anyone to get through.

His fingers bunched tight around the cloth and he shoved the drawer shut, marching back toward the shower. For the sake of his sanity, he really needed to get Faolan off his ship before he did something he’d regret. The sound of water echoed in the small room. Gar slowed his approach as he heard Faolan let out a low moan.
What the hell?