Rescuing Rory (5 page)

“Eat,” he ordered.

Kal didn’t have to tell her twice. She picked up the spoon and dug in. She’d eaten half of it when she wondered if he’d chosen stew so she wouldn’t need a fork or knife to eat it. Both were potential weapons.

She held the spoon up in front of her. “I could do some damage with this if I wanted to.”

One corner of Kal’s mouth twitched. “I certainly hope you won’t. This face is already ugly enough without adding more scars.”

Rory’s mouth almost dropped open.
Ugly
. Is that what he thought? Honestly, she barely noticed the scar on his cheek anymore. She was too busy looking at his kissable mouth and intense green eyes. Kal was handsome as sin with an aura of danger around him that would attract women like flies to honey.

She sniffed and rolled her eyes. “Stop fishing for compliments.”

Kal threw back his head and laughed. She liked the way he seemed to live in each moment, dealing with whatever came his way and enjoying what moments of pleasure there were to be found.

Rory couldn’t forget that he’d thrown his body in front of hers to stop the blasts from the guards’ guns. Of course, he’d done it because he thought she had information about his missing sister, but still, he’d done it.

The longer she was around Kal the more she liked him. And that was dangerous for her well-being. She couldn’t afford to get involved with him, with any of them. All she had to do was go through the pictures and see if she could tell them anything. After that, they’d take her to Albion 5 and her dour Aunt Ophelia.

Not exactly something she looked forward to as she hadn’t laid eyes on her aunt in five years. But it was better than the alternative. Rory knew she was smart and talented. She could start over and carve some kind of life for herself, one with a family of her own and friends.

She put her spoon down on the table beside the almost-empty bowl. “Let’s get this started.” Unspoken was the understanding that the quicker she did this the faster she could leave. His lips tightened and he frowned.

Kal cleared away the remains of her meal and came back to stand next to her. “After you.”

Rory left the galley and headed back toward Kal’s quarters. She knew the way now. She hadn’t seen much of the ship but she knew trader vessels and was starting to get an idea of the layout. Most of the living quarters and bridge were on the top deck with the engines and the bulk of the cargo bays below.

Neither of them spoke on the short walk but she was very aware of Kal directly behind her. Rory’s shoulders itched and she fought the urge to glance over her shoulder.

She waited while he placed his hand on the panel, stepping inside when the door opened with an almost silent
whoosh
. Then they were inside with the door closed. Rory slowly turned to face him. Kal was watching her intently.

Her entire body tingled.

And when he bent toward her, she rose to meet him.

Chapter Four

Crazy. This was absolutely insane. The last thing he should be doing was kissing Rory but he couldn’t help himself. His baggy pants and shirt might cover her curves but there was no hiding them completely. Her breasts were plump and full, her ass curvy.

She had to be scared out of her mind but she hid it well. Hell, she’d stood up to Flynn and that took guts. The fact that she was willing to help them was a bonus. He’d watched her when she was looking at the picture of Abigail and when she was telling them her own story.

She’d been hurt in her short life, understood betrayal. He’d seen it in her eyes. He wanted to ask her a millions questions, like how she’d ended up on a ship like the
Exos
when she’d obviously had a father who’d loved her? What had happened after her father had died?

But those questions could wait. The most pressing question he had, the one he absolutely needed to know the answer to, was how she would feel in his arms with his dick buried in her warm pussy.

It had been months since he’d had a woman. He was tired of the quick encounters with women he met in bars or other less-than-savory places but he’d wanted Rory from the second he’d set eyes on her. He’d already kissed her once. Knew her lips were sweet.

It wasn’t enough.

For some inexplicable reason, he was drawn to her. And he didn’t want to fight it. He leaned down, figuring she’d slap his face. Instead she met him in the middle and their lips melded.

She tasted slightly spicy, like the soup she’d just eaten. She was tentative but not shy as her tongue tangled with his, teasing and inviting.

Kal groaned and ran his hands down her slender back and around her waist before dipping underneath the hem of her shirt. His fingers met warm, smooth skin and his cock began to throb. She made a sound of pleasure in the back of her throat and he decided to push his luck and inched upward until he was cupping her breasts.

The plump mounds fit perfectly in his hands, her puckered nipples stabbing his palms. He’d caught glimpses of them between the long blonde strands of her wig but now he wanted to see her breasts without anything hiding them.

He didn’t stop kissing her. Didn’t want to give either of them time to think. He pulled his hands away and was gratified when she gave a cry of displeasure. He went to work on the buttons of the shirt and had them undone in record time. The material was rough and cheap, not nearly good enough to touch Rory’s skin.

He eased the garment apart and broke their kiss. He had to see her. The reality of her was even better than he’d imagined. Her breasts were high and firm but he’d already known that, had seen them when she’d been dancing and felt them when he held her in his arms.

Her nipples were deep pink and the tips of her breasts were tight nubs. He rubbed his thumb over one of them and Rory sucked in a breath. “Beautiful.” That one word was all he could muster. He wasn’t much for pretty words. He was a man of action.

Kal leaned down and captured the taut peak between his lips and tugged gently. He stroked his tongue over her nipple and was rewarded when Rory threaded her fingers through his hair and held him closer.

He roamed his hands over her waist, around to her ass and down the backs of her thighs. He resented his workout pants that were touching her bare skin, so he shoved the material aside and palmed her firm ass.

Rory jumped and then moaned, wiggling closer. He wondered what she was thinking.

Kal’s blood ran cold. Did she think she had to do this? Did she believe she had to trade sex for protection?

His body screamed at him to continue but he forced himself to stop. He eased his hands back out of her pants and gave her nipple one final lick before drawing away.

Her face was flushed, her lips parted. The tip of her breast was damp from his caress. Her eyes were slightly unfocused but cleared the longer she looked at him.

“You don’t have to do this,” he told her.

Rory’s forehead wrinkled as she frowned. He wanted to smooth the worry from her face but made himself remain still. He’d never forced himself on a woman in his life, never coerced one to have sex with him either, and he wasn’t about to start now, no matter how much he wanted her.

He’d broken a lot of rules in his lifetime but that was one line he’d never cross.

Hands fisted by his sides, he waited for her to respond. Would she be relieved and walk away? Or would she still want him?

Rory grabbed the ends of her shirt and pulled them across her bare breasts. A little late to be covering them now but it made her feel more in control of a situation entirely beyond her.

“What do you mean?”

Kal’s jaw tightened and he took a step away from her. It was a far cry from the passionate man who’d been kissing and touching her only seconds before.

“I mean you don’t have to have sex with me. I’ll protect you and make sure you get where you want to go. You have my word.”

Rory was momentarily thrown by his declaration. It had been a long time since she’d come across a man with honor. The fact that it had never crossed her mind that he expected sex in return for protection and keeping his word was surprising. She’d spent the past few months expecting the worst and always having to give something to get something. In fact, those were words her father had often repeated to her when she was growing up, until thinking that way was as natural as breathing.

Her father had been a trader and always taught her that people never gave something for nothing. There was always a price to pay even if you didn’t exactly know what it was. At some point you always paid in one way or another.

Whatever the price might be down the road for this encounter with Kal, she was willing to pay it.

If her life had taught her anything over the past year it was that everything could change in a heartbeat. She’d gone from being the protected daughter of a hard-working captain, a mechanic of the highest caliber, to being sold into slavery by people she’d thought were her friends and being forced to dance every night for men who ogled her.

She shivered at how close she’d come to ending up in one of the tiny pleasure rooms on the
Exos
. Girls only danced in the cages for one month before they were auctioned off to the highest bidder and taken to one of the rooms. From then on they earned their keep on their backs.

Rory didn’t know if she would have survived long enough to escape. Her two previous sexual encounters had both been hurried affairs conducted on stopovers to planets on her father’s trade route. They hadn’t exactly inspired her to run out and do it again.

But now she wanted Kal’s hands on her, wanted to experience what it would feel like to have him cover her with his body, to fill her.

She had no idea what might happen in the future. She could be dead tomorrow. Life in deep space was precarious and unpredictable. But the one thing that she knew for certain was she wanted Kal. Could it be hero worship because he’d been the one to rescue her? Or because he’d kept her safe, found her clothing and fed her? Maybe. But she knew she wouldn’t feel the same way about just any other man who’d done the same thing.

His brothers had helped in her rescue and she certainly didn’t want any of them. In fact, the farther away she could stay from Flynn the better.

Kal started to turn away. He’d walk away if she didn’t tell him otherwise. Kal was not only handsome, loyal and courageous—traits he’d shown her in the short time she’d known him—he was also honorable.

Rory touched his arm. The muscle tensed beneath her fingers. He looked down at her hand. “Be very sure, Rory.” The roughness of his tone made her nipples tingle and her pussy ache.

She swallowed hard. “I’m sure.” When he paused, she hurried on. “I’ve been inoculated against disease and I’ve also had a birth control shot that’s good for six months.” The medical staff of the
Exos
were careful about the health of all the women on board. They wanted to get the most out of their investment. They’d inoculated her in anticipation of selling her. She’d resented it before. Now she was grateful.

Kal swore, scooped her into his arms and took the two steps necessary to carry her to the bunk. He set her down on the mattress and slowly tugged the ends of the shirt from her hands.

Rory let go and allowed him to draw away the garment. She was naked from the waist up with no long hair to cover her. Her skin warmed under his lustful gaze.

“Lie down.” She shivered, but not from the cold, as she lay back. The heat from his gaze practically scorched her skin.

He tucked his fingers into the waistband of her pants and drew them down her legs. Rory was naked but for the scrap of a thong covering her mound, and the socks he’d given her earlier.

His gaze ran from her feet all the way to her face and back down again. He paused when he got to her breasts and her sex. She shifted on the mattress, feeling slightly uncomfortable beneath his intense regard.

Keeping his eyes locked on her, he unzipped his flightsuit and let it fall to his waist. That didn’t help much since he still wore his battlesuit beneath. He bent down long enough to remove his boots and set them aside.

For a man who’d been so passionate earlier he was certainly taking his time. Rory grabbed his pillow and pulled it over her chest. Kal shook his head, reached out and pulled it away. “I want to see you.”

“I want to see you too,” she countered. “I don’t like feeling so exposed.”

His eyes darkened but he didn’t say anything. Instead he undid the front of the battlesuit and peeled it down his arms and off until he was naked from the waist up.

Rory blinked and creamed her panties. She’d seen good-looking men before. Her travels with her father had taken her around the known galaxies. But Kal was special. The lock of his white hair fell across his forehead, giving him a rakish look. The scar and the glint in his green eyes made him look fierce.

His biceps bulged and a smattering of dark hair covered his forearms. His shoulders were broad and his chest was sculpted muscle. Rory reached out a hand and then pulled it back.

Kal sat beside her on the narrow bunk, picked up her hand and placed it on his chest. “Touch me.” She could hear the yearning in his voice and knew he wanted this as much as she did.

His skin was warm, bordering on hot. The muscle beneath it jumped beneath her fingers. She moved closer to him. The urge to rub her breasts against him was almost overwhelming.

He groaned, wrapped his arm around her shoulders and yanked her closer. Her breasts were crushed against the hard planes of his chest. The pleasure radiated from her nipples all the way down to her pussy.

She was breathing heavily now, almost panting with desire.

And Kal was little better. He sucked in a lungful of air and then kissed her. His earlier kisses had been potent but this one was lethal. They both knew where it was leading this time.

He shifted position while still holding her and she ended up flat on her back with him looming over her. He supported most of his weight on his forearms so he didn’t crush her. The heavy material of his flightsuit was rough against her bare thighs.