Runner: The Fringe, Book 3 (32 page)

Jynx didn’t understand what had just happened, exactly, but she thought she’d passed a test of Michael’s.

Michael must have noticed her confusion, because he smiled very gently. “Like you, I’m a reader. I read scents. Pheromones. I can smell the truth on you. I can even smell your child. A boy, in case you would like to know. Not Foster’s, which…” Michael lifted his gaze to Foster. “I know if I tried to wrest you from him, he would die to protect you.”

Jynx clung to Foster with joy filling her heart. A boy. Her child was a boy! Not Foster’s, which—why hadn’t Michael finished that thought? Is that what held Foster back?

Pushing all her personal concerns away, Jynx asked, “Will you help us?”

“For a price.” Michael nodded. “A price I know Nash will understand and willingly pay.”

Cruising the Fringe and playing the bad boy as he looked for a needle in a galactic haystack had been a total waste of time. Scary Mary had disappeared. Every lead Foster followed ran cold. Frustrated, desperate to wrap this up and return to Windmere where Jynx waited without one clue as to why he did this for Michael, Foster returned to Corona, city of Borealis, and killed time while he plotted his next move.

Sucking down a bottle of Prospect beer in the Robber’s Roost, a weird Wild West combination bar, hotel and saloon, Foster almost wet his pants when he saw her walk in. Actually, she didn’t walk so much as she strutted in like she owned the place.

Decked head to toe in purple, from her spiky hair to her brushed suede boots, none other than Scary Mary herself strode in and settled at the bar.

He tilted his hat low, slumped against the wall, and played drunker than he was. He couldn’t believe that Remarkably Average Mary reinvented herself as a notorious Fringe bandit everyone called the Purple Lady of Corona. Surreptitiously, he captured an image of her and made his way out of the hell once Mary fell to talking with the bartender.

Michael wanted Scary Mary back for the same reasons Foster wanted to keep Jynx Brennan safe. Once they were alone, Michael had said, “You had her, you lost her. You stole her back. I know why you did.” Michael pinned him with an honesty that almost broke Foster’s heart. Damn it all to hell but Michael loved Mary with the same intensity that Foster loved Jynx. “I want Mary back. I don’t want you to hunt her down and bring her to me. I want you to find her and tell me where she is. That’s all. Your reputation allows you a tremendous freedom in the Void that I don’t have. Just find her. Leave it up to me to compel her back.”

If Foster found Scary Mary, Michael would help them run counter IWOG operations on any and all Tyaa plague outbreaks. Carving out a verbal contract with an eye to committing it to writing, Foster brought up every conceivable point.

Michael finally exploded, “Just find Mary and I will do anything you want!”

His passionate outburst made Foster lose his train of thought. “Holy shit. You’re
really
in love with Scary Mary.”

With a visible effort, Michael centered himself. Using a much lower voice and a far calmer tone, he said, “You know what it’s like for me. I know you do, because I can smell how much you love Jynx despite the fact she’s not carrying your child. I can smell how much you love them both.”

Foster had always found Michael’s psi ability to read scents disturbing. Accurate but disconcerting nonetheless.

“I’ll do my best to find Mary, but I won’t die trying. No contract beyond my word that I’ll look while you keep Jynx safe and well away from Roberts.”

Michael agreed. “We’ve already started running scenarios and building up inoculate. My docs tell me we’re a month away from inoculating everyone who works for me.” Michael sighed. “See what that woman has done to me? I’m telling you I’m already running it. It isn’t about helping you or Jynx but just protecting my own. And Mary—” Michael cut himself off, but he didn’t have to say it. He considered Mary one of his own.

“I’ll find her.” Foster swore then and there he would, no matter how long it took. “It’s a deal, Michael. I’ll find Mary for all you’re doing in return.”

Relieved, Michael cast Foster a lopsided grin. “You trust me with your woman?”

“Not so much.” Foster grinned back. “I trust my woman.”

Chapter Thirty

While Foster was gone, Jynx watched her waist expand and worried. Michael opened his decadently opulent home to her. She felt like a child let loose in a candy store as she gorged herself on everything in his vast library. When she grew weary of reading, Michael offered other ways to entertain and distract her. No matter how many times she asked, Michael wouldn’t tell her where Foster was or why. He only said that she should not worry.

“There is a price for everything. Foster is paying the price.”

Michael dined with her for most meals. He had impeccable table manners and was a skilled conversationalist, but he also had a wonderful sense of humor. When he was near, she felt her worry about Foster ease, but her fear for him never fully left her. At first, she wondered if Michael would try to seduce her, but he treated her as an honored guest. He was indulgent and kind, but clearly, his heart belonged to a woman called Mary. At almost every turn, Michael spoke of how clever, how dangerous, how frightfully inventive Mary was. He never directly said he loved her, but he didn’t have to. And eventually Jynx realized where Foster was.

“Foster is gone on a contract for you,” Jynx said, considering her mostly gone dinner and wondering if there was more. No matter how much she ate, she was still hungry. “He is working for you and could not tell me why.”

“Granted.” Michael did not mince words.

“When will Foster return?” Jynx had a feeling he wouldn’t be back until he located the elusive Mary. And if Mary was even half as good as Michael seemed to think she was, that might be a very long time.

“Soon, I hope.” When the serving girl, Clara, entered, Michael asked her to bring another serving for Jynx. “I can tell that you’re still hungry.”

Clara returned and filled her plate and Michael’s coffee cup. She waited until Clara exited. “When we first arrived, you mentioned my child, then went silent when you looked at Foster. Does he love my child, or has he—”

“I cannot answer that.” Michael sipped from his cup. “It is not my place to confess another man’s heart. Were you so determined, you could always read the answer yourself.”

She realized Michael was challenging her to use her gift on him. “I couldn’t do that to you or Foster because—”

“That would be unfair, wouldn’t it?”

“Yes.” Now she understood why Michael wouldn’t tell her what he’d read in Foster. Begrudgingly, she respected Michael’s reason, even if not knowing continued to torment her.

“There’s no doubt in my mind. Scary Mary is the Purple Lady of Corona.”

Duster pulled back from the com link. “No.”

“Yes.” Foster fumbled to his belt. “Got proof a good six ways to Sunday and—”

“Don’t go near her.”

“Wasn’t planning on it. I told Michael I’d find her, not apprehend her. If he wants her, he can come and get her.” Tipping his hat low, Foster added, “How’s my woman?”

“Fine.” Duster scrunched his face hard. “Don’t tell him.”

“What? That I found Mary?”

“Yeah.”

“Screw off, Duster. I have a deal with Michael, and I’m not going back on my word.” He didn’t have a signed contract, but he didn’t need one with Michael when they had mutual trust. “I’m out here looking for Mary because I’m trading her location to get back to my woman.”

“Jynx Brennan.” Duster said her name like it was a dirty swear.

Coldly, Foster considered Duster. “You wouldn’t dare hurt her.”

“No. Not me.” Duster shot Foster a narrowed eye wink. “What if she wasn’t what you thought?”

“If you’ve got something to say, say it. Stop pissing in the wind trying to hit me.”

“What if she was sleeping with Michael while you were out and about on the Fringe?”

Foster tossed back his head and laughed. “Jynx and Michael? Only if Michael’s lost his mind and Jynx is drugged out of hers. Even then I’m thinking no. Don’t you bother, Duster. You can’t shake my faith in her. Jynx is waiting for me. I know it sure as I know my own name. I had a deal with Michael, and you have no right to—”

“You’re as bad as he is!” Duster cut him off with sudden venom. “Trusting so utterly in a woman who could betray you in a million ways.”

“Diane Black is your problem, Duster. Don’t make Jynx and Mary accountable for her crimes.”

Duster rolled his eyes. “You’re both fools.”

“Yeah, well, I’m thinking you’re jealous.”

“No. What I am is smart.” Defeated, Duster sighed. “Hang tight, I’ll go get the other love-struck idiot.”

A dozen candles sparkled in her bedroom as wafting notes of music filled the sweetly scented air. Bunches and bunches of flowers covered every available space, contrasting the antique ivory color scheme of the room. Jynx stood on the threshold, peering into the flickering shadows. To her delight, Foster sat on the edge of her bed, clad in a royal blue robe.

Foster cast a sleepy wink. “Hello, Sweets. I missed you.”

Jynx shook her head, not quite believing her eyes. She hadn’t seen him for over a month. His hair had started to grow back and was just long enough to brush a fringe of bangs along his forehead. He looked sleepy, warm and wonderful. She rushed toward him.

Foster slid off the bed and met her halfway, embracing her firmly. “Did you miss me?”

“Where, what—”

“I had to pay the piper.” Tipping her chin up, he kissed her with sweeping grace. “Was Michael nice to you?”

“Yes. I’m afraid we bored each other to tears. He didn’t stop talking about Mary, and I didn’t stop talking about you. He gave me a closet full of clothes, and his doctor, Murphy, gave me a complete physical, confirming what Michael had said, and—”

“Take a breath.” Foster grinned. “Everything okay with the baby?”

“Yes, he’s fine. I’m fine.” Jynx pulled out of his arms and straightened her shoulders. “You don’t have to worry about playing Daddy. I don’t expect you to.”

He didn’t say a word, and she was too afraid to say any more. It broke her heart to have her suspicions confirmed. Foster wanted her, not her baby. Heavens. With her ever-swelling belly, he probably didn’t even want
her
anymore.

“You don’t have to worry. Michael is letting me work in the lab, so I’m sure I can make a place for myself here. You can go back to your job and the privacy of your ship—”

“What brought all this on?” His brows made a dark V of confusion above his eyes. “Are you dumping me?”

“No. I thought I’d make it easier for you to dump me.”

“Why would I do that?”

“Because it’s obvious that you don’t want me anymore.”

His eyebrows rose as he looked down. “See that? For not wanting you, I seem awfully titillated just to be in the same room with you.”

She glanced to his erection pushing against his robe, then quickly looked away. “You got me back on your ship and didn’t once—”

“Ah. I get it. I didn’t make love to you then, so you got all kinds of strange ideas in your head. Here I was thinking I was being noble, and instead I just frightened you.” Slowly but surely he pulled her into his embrace, then rubbed his nose to hers. “Remember our first time on the ship?”

Fast and furious in his big, black leather chair. “How could I forget?”

“This time, it’s kinda like the first time all over. I wanted it to be special. Look around. Candlelight, flowers, soft music, silk sheets, the whole bit. Michael offered full run of his wine cellar, but in light of this little guy”—Foster touched her belly with a large possessive hand—“I settled on juice.” When he nodded to the bedside table, Jynx noticed two glasses sitting there. “I just wanted it perfect for you this time. That’s the only reason I was holding back.”

Sagging against him with relief, Jynx wrapped her arms around him. “I feel like an ass.”

“Naw. You feel like a warm and sexy woman.” Foster ran his hands along her back. “My woman.”

Jynx giggled against his chest. “How very caveman of you.”

Grunting, Foster said, “Me big man. Want lovely woman. Want to tease and please lovely woman.” Waggling his eyebrows at her, he whispered, “But only if my lovely woman wants me to.”

“Go.”

As he slid her dress off, Foster kissed and licked and stroked every bit of her. He took his time exploring as she struggled to keep her own animal at bay. Heaven help her, she just wanted to shove him into bed and fill herself with him. All of him. All at once.

“Your eyes got that dark look in them, Jynx. Like a lady one step from going crazy.”

“It’s your fault.” Jynx pushed his robe off his shoulders as she stroked his chest. “You’ve got me so charged up at the moment, I feel like a rocket ready to explode.”

“Yeah?” Foster lifted his brow as he flashed her that sneaky grin. “Got you at my mercy, do I?”

“Foster, please. Don’t tease me. I honestly don’t think I could take it.”

He scooped her up and placed her carefully in the amethyst-colored bed. He pulled back and just looked down at her.

“What?”

“Your eyes, in this purple bed. You’re so impossibly beautiful, you look almost unreal.”

Foster snuggled next to her, kissing her as he continued to stroke and tease her body. When she softly begged for more, he rolled her to her back, lifted her knees over his hips, then entered her as slowly as he could. Jynx arched her head back and gave a long deep sigh of pleasure.

“It’s very mutual.” Foster gripped her hip and thrust gently into her as he peered right into her eyes. “You feel so good.”

Pressing her legs together tightened her around him.

“Whoa.” Foster took a deep breath. “Don’t be doing that just yet. I want this to last.” Slipping his hand between her legs, he swirled his fingertips over her clit.

Pent-up demand brought her to a sharp and sudden climax that shocked them both. Her passage gripped him, and he shuddered.

“Ah, hell.” Foster tried to hold back but couldn’t. His orgasm rippled through his body. He pulled her tight as he twitched with release. “Crap. That lasted all of what? Two minutes?”