Stealing Coal (15 page)

him. Fear over scaring her and extreme bliss blurred together when his cock pulsed.

She swallowed when he filled her mouth with his cum. The ecstasy at the added

sensation had him crying out again. His tense body shook and when it ended after she

released him gently with her mouth, he turned completely limp. He panted, eyes still

closed, and his head fell forward. A deep sense of utter paradise settled throughout

him.

“I take it I did that right?” Jill’s hesitant voice broke him from his euphoria.

Coal lifted his head, opened his eyes, and gazed at her with pure adoration. He

couldn’t stop the smile that curved his lips. She had to be the most beautiful woman

he’d ever seen. Her mouth looked redder than normal, a little swollen, and a slight

pinkness spread across her cheeks.
Absolutely adorable
, he thought, realizing how shy

she looked and how unsure of her sexual skills.

His body didn’t want to move yet but he forced it to. He held out his hands to her.

“Come here.”

He took note of the way her hands trembled a little when she placed them in his

and how delicate they were in comparison to his own. She seemed so fragile—humans

were—and he tugged her closer. She came, moving between his spread thighs again,

and he lifted one of her hands, turned it over, and brought it to his mouth. He pressed a

kiss to her soft palm. He saw her stunned look. “Thank you.”

Her eyebrows shot up and she blushed more. “You’ve gone down on me and I

wanted to try it with you.”

“Did you get pleasure from it?” He hoped so because he really wanted her to do

that again in the near future.

“You taste good and…” She bit her lip, something he had noted that she did often

when nervousness came into play. “I did.”

His grin widened until the muscles in his face protested. “I’ve never had a female

do that to me before and you nearly killed me from how wonderful it felt.”

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Laurann Dohner

Shock blanked her features and his smile died.

“Should I have not admitted that to you?” Uncertainty gripped him, not wanting

her to react negatively. He wasn’t similar to other males, his life had made him

different, and he hoped she wouldn’t pity him for something she obviously considered

odd about him.

“Nobody ever gave you head?” Her astonishment couldn’t be clearer.

He shook his head, keeping hold of her hands. “No.”

“But didn’t any of those women ever try that to turn you on?”

“It was never about my pleasure but theirs. They used pain to stimulate my body.”

Jill jerked her hands out of his and he inwardly winced. He needed to stop

informing her about what had, or in this case, hadn’t been done to him. She suddenly

lunged at him. He tensed, stunned she’d attack him, but her arms slid around him

instead, wrapping around his neck tightly in a hug. Her body pressed firmly against his

chest. She turned her head until her lips brushed his throat.

“I’m so damn sorry for what those bitches did to you, Coal. Any time you want me

to do that to you again, just tell me.”

A sense of happiness flooded him, nearly blinding him as his eyes watered and his

arms wrapped around her to draw her up his body until he had her across his lap. He

held her and she seemed willing to allow it when her arms continued to cling to him.

“Thank you, Jill.”

“How about if I send Arm after those women? He can kick some serious ass.”

The unexpected laugh poured from his chest. “Arm?”

She nodded against his throat. “Yeah. Can you imagine their faces when he came at

them full speed to get some revenge for you? You should have seen your face when you

first saw him. Someone should kick their sorry asses for what they did to you. I’d do it

myself but I’m not really a fighter.” She paused. “I wouldn’t order him to kill them but

I’d sure like to tell him to break some arms and legs.”

Coal hated to do it but he released her enough to pull back to study her upturned

face. “Don’t even joke about it. I never want my people to have a reason to see you as

the enemy. There are far more of them than you’d suspect. I appreciate the sentiment

though. They can no longer harm me. I’m free.”

“It just makes me really mad.”

“I understand. I would love five minutes in a room with your asshole.”

The laugh she gave him astonished him, not sure what he’d said in such a serious

moment that she’d found humorous. Perhaps the idea of him harming her ex-husband

made her that joyously happy. He’d sincerely hunt that human down if it pleased Jill

and removed some of the sadness caused to her.

“I thought you said we weren’t going to have anal sex.” The teasing look glinting in

her beautiful blue eyes demonstrated that she’d understood his context but had chosen

to joke about it.

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Stealing Coal

He grinned. “Your sense of humor is growing on me.”

“Good.” She winked. “I’m not having anal sex with you though.” Her grin faded.

“You’re way too big.”

He laughed. “I can easily accept that.”

The chair suddenly made a crunching noise and Coal tensed as it collapsed under

them. His hold on Jill shifted, protectively trying to shield her from harm with his arms

when they hit the floor hard. She landed on top of him.

Jill gaped at the broken pieces next to them.

“Are you harmed?” His first concern was to make certain she hadn’t gotten hurt.

She shook her head. “You?”

He didn’t mention that a piece of metal dug uncomfortably against his bare ass

cheek but he didn’t feel any pain, assessing that the skin hadn’t broken. The seat had

remained under him for the most part while the legs and back of it had scattered in a

debris pattern around them. “I’m fine.”

Jill laughed. “I guess we were too heavy for it.”

Coal looked toward the piece of the chair he’d snapped off earlier and tossed away.

He didn’t want to admit he’d probably damaged it, made the seat unstable, in order to

avoid digging his fingers into Jill’s lovely red hair when she’d wrapped her mouth

around his cock.

“That’s more than logical,” he said in a serious tone.

Jill planted a quick kiss on his cheek and then wiggled on his lap. “We should find

you some pants and clean up this mess.”

He hated to let her go but he did, helping her rise to her feet. “Good plan.”

What he really wanted though would be to sweep her into his arms, carry her to her

quarters, and remove the rest of her clothing. He could happily spend days, weeks,

even months pleasuring Jill.

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Laurann Dohner

Jill grinned, watching Coal toss the pieces of chair into the trash recycler while she

put away the tools. The pants he’d changed into were too tight, revealing a nice ass

when they stretched to the point of the seams possibly bursting, and made her wish

they would, just to see him bare again. A warm sensation surged inside her chest so

strongly it had her heart racing. Her happiness faded to be replaced quickly with

sobering realization.

“Oh hell.”

Coal turned, his beautiful eyes meeting hers. “What is wrong?”

A lump formed in her throat and she had to swallow it down. “Nothing.”

A dark eyebrow lifted. “Jill?”

“I just remembered I don’t have another mobile chair in here,” she lied.
I’m falling in

love with him
.
Deeply.

“I’m sorry I’m not able to fix it.”

“It’s fine.” She forced a smile. “No worries. I’ll pick up another one the next time I

go to a dump planet. That’s where I got that one. I probably should have left it there

considering it obviously wasn’t well made.”

He gave her a sharp nod, turned away, and continued to clean up pieces. Jill spun

to give him her back in case he glanced her way. She closed her eyes tightly and took a

deep breath.

Don’t do this
, she ordered silently.
He’s a person, he wants to go back to his cyborg

people, and you can’t keep him the way you did the droids
.

“I believe that’s the last of it.”

She opened her eyes and turned, forcing another smile. “Hungry? I am.”

He nodded. “I could eat.”

“Good. I have canned roast beef I’ve been saving for a special occasion. Have you

ever had it? It’s not simulated meat. It’s the real stuff, straight from Earth.”

“I haven’t, but I trust it will be delicious if it’s a special treat you have hoarded.”

She laughed. “Hoarded?”

“Saved?” He grinned. “Is that better?”

“Yes. I also have some―”

“Incoming traffic,” Fray announced over the speakers. “Two vessels.”

Fear gripped Jill. Coal’s features tensed.

“Follow me.”

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Stealing Coal

He spun quickly and strode toward the cargo hold doors. Jill remained still for a

split second and then compelled her body into action, jogging after him. He kept a

steady, fast pace and she had to upgrade to a run to keep up with him.

“Move,” Coal demanded the second he entered the piloting station.

Fray abandoned his seat quickly and moved to the wall to keep out of the way. Jill

had to catch her breath as she hovered just inside the doorway, watching Coal sink into

the pilot seat to stare at the readings.

“It’s not the freighter we attacked,” he informed her. “They are coming into range

from the direction we are traveling.” He paused. “Come here, Jill.”

She pushed forward and came around the chair to his side. One glance at the screen

showed her two blinking lights and as she watched, they moved closer to the
Jenny
,

heading right for them.

“Open communications and demand to know who they are and why they are

approaching.” Coal turned his head to stare up at her. “Can I trust you not to send them

a distress message that you need help?”

It hurt that he still didn’t trust her but she pushed it back, her fear stronger than the

pain in her chest. “I wouldn’t do that to you.”

“Your system is so outdated I can’t get a lock on what classifications they are. I

hope they aren’t Earth Government warships.”

“Me too,” she muttered. “I’m probably wanted by them, remember?” She hesitated.

“If they are and they decide to board us I want you to hide. There’s a false bottom

under my bed where some illegal shit had once been stored. I found it by accident.

They’ll never find you unless they bring scanners aboard. This shuttle is too old for

them to bother to confiscate and they will just arrest me, leaving the ship abandoned to

float in space. That’s what they do when they arrest people. Once they take me away

you fly out of here but wait until they are out of range before you start the engines. I’m

sure they will leave the droids behind with you.” She paused. “All I ask of you is to

please take care of them for me. I don’t want them ending up in a trash pile somewhere

or aimlessly drifting in space aboard an abandoned ship.”

His jaw clenched. “Hail them.”

She nodded and reached over his arm to turn on the coms system then, before she

spoke, she flipped another switch that made Coal frown. “This is the captain of the

Jenny
. I’m hailing the two inbound vessels approaching. Why are you tracking our

ship?”

Coal turned off the com. “What is that?” He pointed to the extra switch.

“It’s a voice modifier. I took saved messages from my father to this ship that the

computer had stored when he communicated to the old crew and it’s his voice that is

being broadcast right now instead of mine. I use it to fool people I trade with to make

them think he’s talking to me instead of one of my droids when they check in on me

while I’m off the shuttle. I also use it when dealing with unknown ships. It would be

stupid to let them hear a woman’s voice this far out. I may as well send out a signal

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Laurann Dohner

telling them to attack me if I used my own voice.” She could see that he was uncertain.

Jill reached out and squeezed his biceps, her fingers rubbing his hot skin. “Trust me.”

Coal relaxed and flipped the com system back on. He gave her a grim nod.

“I’m speaking to the two inbound ships. Identify and state why you are tracking my

ship.”

A crackle sounded from the speakers. “This is the commander of the
Star
. We’re

searching for a life pod that accidently launched during a training exercise.” Silence

ticked. “There is a reward if you’ve picked it up or seen it on your long-range radar.”

Coal hunched forward. “Who is speaking?”

Another hesitation. “My name is Flint. Have you seen the pod or know of its

location?”

Coal suddenly leaned back and a grin spread across his face. To Jill’s shock, he

flicked off the voice modifier. He looked up at her and winked.

“Not only have I seen it, Flint…” he chuckled, “it was a tight fit. I don’t recommend

traveling in one.”

Jill’s knees wanted to collapse under her when it dawned on what he’d said. He

looked away from her as the other man responded.

“Coal? Is that you?”

“Who else? I turned off a voice modifier.”

Flint laughed. “We’re increasing speed. Is Councilman Zorus well?”

Coal’s smile faded. “We were separated and I’m alone.”

“Damn. We’ll talk when we dock with you. I take it we have permission?”