Rebel (21 page)

She tilted her head and gently sucked one of
his testicles and then the other. The sensation made his toes dig
into the shower’s base. His cock twitched and ached as blood
further hardened the shaft.

He pushed his fingers into her hair and
pulled her away from his balls. “I want the heat of your mouth and
the swirl of your tongue. I’m too…ticklish to enjoy that.”

“Ticklish?” There was definitely amusement
in her tone. “You’re ticklish?”

“If you no longer want my cock in your
mouth, I can think of all sorts of ways to spend our limited time
together.” His gut clenched as he heard his own words. This was a
fantasy, nothing more. He couldn’t allow himself to feel anything
but lust for this pampered princess.

Her lips closed around the head of his cock
and her fingernails dug into his hips. He closed his eyes,
welcoming the sting of her lacquered nails against his lean flesh.
She pulled him closer, teasing him with the moist heat of her
breath. Desire spiraled up his shaft and tightened his balls. Oh
yes, this is what he needed. They only had a few hours before
reality intruded again.

She slowly sucked him into her mouth,
flicking her tongue along his length as she pulled back. He pushed
his fingers into her damp hair, guiding her movements, speeding her
tempo. Beyond gentleness, but unwilling to hurt her, he listened to
her muffled sounds and felt for any tug against his hold. Deeper
and deeper he thrust. She took him eagerly, tilting her head and
relaxing her throat until his balls rested on her chin. He kept his
strokes slow and even, allowing her to accept his entire length
again and again.

Tension gathered in his gut and tightened
his balls. The wet heat of her mouth combined with her
selflessness, arousing him unbearably. With an intentional swallow,
she sent him over the edge. He shuddered and clenched, feeling as
if his soul poured into her along with his seed.

Dragging her to her feet, he kissed her
deeply, sucking her tongue into his mouth. She shuddered in
approval and did the same. She clung to him, whimpering as they
savored the combined taste of their passion.

A long time passed before he released her
lips. “Turn around.” He didn’t give her time to disobey. With his
hands on her shoulders, he turned her to face the spray. “Brace
yourself against the wall. I don’t think I can be gentle.” She
splayed her fingers against the shower stall and widened her
stance. He pressed his chest against her upper back as he rolled
her nipples. “I’ve never wanted anyone as badly as I wanted you
while you were doing this to yourself.” He thrust his fingers into
her pussy hard and deep.

She rocked forward and groaned. His other
hand left her breasts and found her clit. Pairing each drive with a
clever caress, he soon had her gasping and moaning. Her cunt
rippled around his fingers and her clit twitched against his
fingertips. He took her to the very brink then backed off. Her head
came to rest against his shoulder and her panting breaths filled
his ears.

“Please, Master, let me come.”

Pushing his fingers in as far as he could,
he rolled her clit until he felt her orgasm detonate. Her inner
muscles clenched rhythmically as she cried out. With his fingers
filling her, he drew spasm after spasm from her trembling body.

She arched her neck, allowing him to reach
her mouth with his. They kissed and kissed as she drenched his
fingers with fresh silken cream.

With obvious reluctance, he withdrew his
fingers and turned her around. He pressed her warm body against his
and kissed her some more. He wanted to lick her pussy again, but
there was no point. They couldn’t have what they both wanted. It
had to end now.

“I’ll recycle your uniform and the sheets.”
He stepped back and lowered his hands to his sides. “Run the
maintenance cycle as soon as you’re finished scrubbing every
millimeter of your body. Regardless of the coalition’s response, I
won’t come to you again.”

Meredith Caperelli scowled at the
orange-tinted sky. It had been nearly two years since she set foot
on this dismal outpost and she wasn’t pleased to be back now. She’d
chosen the other two members of her team carefully and briefed them
on the way from Halley Prime. They knew their objective was hostage
retrieval. However, they had only a vague understanding of who the
hostages were and why they’d been taken.

“Didn’t you used to live on Borrelly?”
Hamilton asked as he adjusted the ship’s trajectory.

“Why do you think I was chosen for this
assignment?” Hamilton might be a bit too curious. But when push
came to shove, he’d follow orders without question. “I can provide
a plausible explanation for being on the outpost until we’re ready
to spring our trap.”

Meredith had never worked with Juarez
before, but the young woman was fresh out of training and eager to
prove herself. Hopefully her enthusiasm would outweigh her
inexperience.

“Do you really think Korbin Reah is the
mastermind behind the rebels?” Juarez asked. “According to his
file, he works for the coalition.”

“What better cover for the rebel leader? He
has access to the coalition data stream while he spreads his
subversive propaganda,” Hamilton said without looking up from his
control console.

“If Korbin is the
mastermind
behind
this operation, shutting it down should be no problem.” Meredith
didn’t bother concealing her disdain. When she’d first encountered
Korbin he’d been an embittered child of eight who hated everything
and everyone—except his precious father.

Meredith had been as attracted to Simeon as
she’d been repelled by his son, so she’d pretended an interest in
the pathetic little boy. Korbin had seen right through her
pretense, even if Simeon hadn’t.

Her marriage to Simeon had lasted four
years. She’d never meant to become pregnant, but Corry had been a
pleasant diversion for a time. The things that attracted Meredith
to Simeon in the beginning ultimately drove them apart. His passion
and ingenuity fascinated Meredith until she realized he was so
consumed by his fanciful ideas there was no room in his life for
anything else.

When the CCC extended its invitation, she
hadn’t hesitated. Corry adored her father and idolized Korbin. They
were better off without her. Meredith always knew she was destined
for Halley Prime. She’d freed herself from a life of drudgery and
want, and never looked back.

There were occasional visits and infrequent
communications, but her involvement with the Reah family was a
chapter in her life she’d considered closed.

Until now.

She opened a comlink to Corry’s apartment,
but got no response. Was Corry mixed up in this nonsense? It would
be typical for Corry to follow blindly where Korbin led. The two
had always been inseparable. If Korbin had dragged Corry into this
rebellion, Meredith would make sure he was punished to the full
penalty of the law.

Meredith grabbed the overnight bag she’d
prepared hours before as Hamilton set down in the visitor’s shuttle
lot. “I’ll either return shortly or com you, so don’t get too
comfortable.”

“Yes, Major,” Hamilton said, and Juarez
snapped to attention as Meredith made her way toward the hatch.
Meredith always insisted on formality, regardless of the size of
the team.

She went to the office building indicated in
the report and asked to see Korbin Reah.

“I’m afraid he’s in a meeting, Major
Caperelli. Was he expecting you?”

Unwilling to justify her presence to a
receptionist, Meredith said, “I’ll wait.” She moved to the row of
chairs facing the interior of the office complex. If Korbin tried
to leave the floor, he’d have to walk right past her.

The receptionist glanced at her from time to
time as he continued to route communications. Meredith
intentionally stared at the young man, hoping to make him
uncomfortable.

Two men in Corrections uniforms exited the
hall and shortly after the receptionist said, “He will see you
now.”

Korbin sat behind a large desk, his
attention focused on his access terminal. He glanced up at her
entrance but didn’t greet her or acknowledge her presence in any
other way.

“It’s nice to see you too,” she
muttered.

“I have a full agenda today. For that
matter, my agenda is full every day. What do you want?”

She’d expected a cold reception. Korbin
never pretended to feel anything but animosity for her. “Where’s
Corry?”

“Did you try her apartment?” His tone was
casual, his expression composed.

“Of course. Why do you think I came here?”
She paused, studying his features, assessing his eyes. He’d always
been damn good at hiding his thoughts and feelings. “I told her
several weeks ago I was up for a short leave. She said she’d be
available to spend some time with me.”

“You’re full of shit, Meredith.” He leaned
back in his chair, tapping his fingers against the armrests. “Corry
has no interest in spending time with you. What do you really
want?”

She ignored his hostility, curiosity winning
out over her urge to smack him. “When did you last see her?”

“We had lunch yesterday.”

“And you haven’t seen or spoken to her
since?”

“Why are you on Borrelly?” He folded his
hands on his desktop and glared.

Something was definitely wrong here. It
shouldn’t take long to figure out what. “Believe what you like. I’m
here to visit my daughter. If you’ll just let me in to her
apartment, I’ll wait for her there.”

“If you’re determined to stay, I’ll arrange
accommodations,” he answered immediately. “It’s better that
way.”

Better for whom?
Her smile turned
speculative.

Meredith noticed the guard attempting to
trail her as she left the office building. Korbin had great
instincts. He just needed better help. Several abrupt turns and a
bit of backtracking lured the young man into an alley. A quick
blast from her pulse pistol rendered him unconscious and she
returned to her ship.

“Find a commuter lot. Somewhere we can stay
for a couple of hours,” she ordered Hamilton as she activated the
panel in front of her. “We’re about to confirm the rebels’ base of
operations.”

The last retinal scan logging Corry’s
movements had been two days before. So much for Korbin having lunch
with her.

“How can we be certain this is where the
hostages are being held?” Juarez asked.

Meredith debated how much to tell them. The
executive council had stressed that discretion was top priority.
She stuck to the facts. “All residents of Borrelly, both inmates
and employees, are implanted with an ident-chip. We’ll use
shipboard scanners to locate any person without such a chip.”

“A sector-by-sector scan could take—”

“Get started.” She cut off Hamilton before
he overtly questioned her decision. Corry didn’t have an ident-chip
either. It was far more probable that she had left the outpost, but
this might kill two birds with one stone.

It was a tedious process. Hours passed as
names and designations of the entire population of Borrelly
scrolled across the ship’s main vidscreen. Late in the afternoon,
the scanner beeped, indicating an error or what Meredith had been
hoping to find, a person not identifiable to the scanner.

Meredith adjusted the search parameters,
closing in on the outpost’s newest facility. The complex was still
under construction. She laughed.

“Korbin is listed as superintendent for this
project,” she told the others.

“That’s pretty damn brazen,” Juarez said.
“He’s hiding them in plain sight.”

“At a glance, it’s business as usual. No one
is going to question guards on Borrelly. Everyone is doing what
they’re supposed to do.” Hamilton glanced at Meredith. “There are
only two in the complex without ident-chips. Aren’t we after three
hostages?”

“We have to start somewhere. Juarez, put us
down here.” Meredith pointed to a clearing on the far side of the
complex. “Hamilton, you’re with me, so you’ll need to look the
part.” Meredith and Hamilton changed out of their military garb and
into nondescript workers’ uniforms.

Meredith programmed her arm band to track
the two signals and led Hamilton toward the complex. The side
entrance was flanked by guards. They crouched on the ground,
protected from view by a rounded hill.

“Create a diversion and I’ll take out the
guards.”

He raised his brow at her command but didn’t
argue. She crept to the crest of the hill on her belly and braced
the rifle against her shoulder as Hamilton strode toward the
guards. If this was a simple construction zone, why did they need
armed guards?

Hamilton’s angle was perfect, leaving her a
clear shot at each target. Kill or incapacitate? She heaved a
frustrated sigh. It was so much easier when the enemy was truly an
enemy and not disgruntled children.

Easing the intensity level back to stun, she
dropped the first guard and the second in quick succession.

“Nice shots,” Hamilton said as she joined
him, but the gleam in his dark eyes revealed his amusement at her
leniency.

She looked at her arm band while Hamilton
heaved one of the unconscious guards to eyelevel and scanned open
the door. “Down that corridor and to the right.” With only an
occasional glance from the construction workers, Meredith and
Hamilton located the holding cells. A control booth separated the
two small rooms. She drew her pulse pistol and crept toward the
portal. Avoiding the retinal scanner, she entered the master
override code Admiral Tiptonn had given her. Nothing happened.
Damn it.

Hamilton motioned her back and aimed a
controlled energy stream into the locking mechanism. The privacy
panel released with a soft hiss.