Stud (13 page)

“No,” Tarq replied. “I know exactly how you feel. I enjoy the freedom too. But just this once, it would be nice to have someone along for the ride.”
Someone
like
you.
Much as he wanted to, he couldn’t just demand that she be his mate. They needed to spend this time together. Then she would see how he felt and maybe fall in love with him. If she didn’t, Tarq didn’t know what he was going to do.

She didn’t say yes right away. In fact, she didn’t say anything at all. Tarq had never dealt with a reluctant female before, and the suspense was killing him. Kidnapping was sounding better all the time. After all, she wasn’t the only one with a pulse pistol. If he hadn’t been afraid it would harm the babies, he would have stunned her and stuffed her in his speeder. But that would have made him just as bad as her father.

Despite the growing heat of the day, Tarq’s hands felt like ice, and his heart was beating erratically. He knew she had to be the one to make the decision, but he simply couldn’t wait any longer. He was already on his knees. Now he would have to beg.

“Lucy, please come with me. Freedom is a wonderful thing, but it gets lonely sometimes.”

“You’re
lonely
?” she asked, her disbelief quite plain.

He nodded. “All the time.”

“But—but you have women everywhere!”

“
Had
women everywhere,” he said grimly. “There’s a difference.”

Lucy frowned. “I don’t get it.”

“They’re all strangers, Lucy. I can’t remember any of their names, and I might not even recognize their faces. I’ve got hundreds of children too, but I’ve never held a single one of them in my arms. They’ll learn how to swim and climb trees and pilot a speeder from someone else. I’ve seen pictures, of course, but it isn’t the same as watching them grow up with my own eyes. Oh, yeah, Lucy. Believe me, there’s a difference.”

Her shoulders slumped visibly as she drew in a ragged breath. “Well… I guess it wouldn’t hurt to ride to Yalka with you.”

“Wouldn’t
hurt
?” Tarq felt like she’d plunged a knife into his heart. “I-I thought you liked me.”

“Oh, no, it isn’t that I don’t like you!” she said quickly. “I just… well, it’s hard to explain.”

Her frank dismay made him feel a little better, but this was obviously the best he was going to get for now. Tarq took a moment to collect his thoughts, knowing that if he said the wrong thing now, it was all over and he might lose her. Forever. “That’s okay. You don’t have to explain. Just as long as you come with me.” Reaching out, he ran a fingertip down the side of her cheek, tilting her chin up to gaze into her warm brown eyes. He wanted to kiss her so badly he could hardly stand it. “I won’t hurt you, Lucy. And I won’t tell you what to do. I won’t tell anyone who you are or where you came from. You can trust me.”

Her voice was barely a whisper. “I know that. I’m sorry to put you to so much trouble. I never intended—”

Tarq put a finger to her lips. “You aren’t causing me any trouble.”

She swallowed with apparent difficulty. “Maybe not, but I did wind up costing you a lot of money.”

“That was a gift, Lucy. You didn’t ask for it. I
gave
it to you.”

She nodded, but Tarq could see tears gathering in her eyes. “I don’t understand why you’re so nice to me. I’m not used to it.”

Tarq knew kindness was unusual for her—at least with respect to her family. He couldn’t understand why anyone would be hateful to such a kind and giving woman. It was like cursing a flower for being beautiful. “It’s not hard to do. And I intend to go on being nice, so you’ll just have to get over it.”

“For a couple of days, anyway.”

It took a moment before he realized what she meant. He only had the time it would take to reach Yalka. Then she would be with her friend and wouldn’t need him anymore. Tarq didn’t want to think about that.

Getting to his feet, he held out his hand. “Come on, then. You can sleep in the speeder if you like.”

“I don’t know if I’ll be able to sleep or not,” Lucy said as he pulled her upright. After dusting the dry leaves from her clothes, she picked up her blanket and shook it out.

Tarq slung her bag over his shoulder, taking note of the weight. She had to be completely exhausted from carrying it. “It’s quiet and rides pretty smooth. The seat reclines too.”

“I’m not worried about that. It’s just that I’ve never ridden in a speeder before.”

Tarq found this hard to believe, but it did explain why she’d been so willing to walk. A slow smile crept across his lips. “You’re gonna love it.”

Lucy approached Tarq’s speeder with serious trepidation. It never ceased to amaze her that the pod-shaped vehicles could fly less than a meter off the ground without kicking up any dust. Dark green and streamlined, the speeder rested on three legs, each of which terminated in a wheel. The interior was covered with a clear dome that slowly parted in the middle in response to a tap from Tarq, revealing two upholstered seats at the front end and a rear cargo compartment.

Tarq tossed her bag in the back. There wasn’t a whole lot there; just an assortment of boxes and what appeared to be a small, folded-up tent. He obviously believed in traveling light. Not that Lucy had much herself. Aside from a few clothes, most of what she carried was food and water, though probably not enough of either.

Tarq tapped the side and the passenger door folded out and down to form a step. He took her hand again and helped her to climb aboard. He was treating her like… a lady. Lucy didn’t quite know what to make of it. No one had ever helped her do anything as simple as stepping into a speeder.

As she settled in, the seat instantly conformed to her shape and a belt arched over her, holding her snuggly in place. When Tarq closed the door, she spotted the controls on the side panel. With a touch of the recline icon, the seat back folded down while the underside rose up to form a footrest.
Yeah, I could get used to this.

Tarq hopped into the driver’s seat and started the engine. He hadn’t been kidding about it being quiet. She barely heard a sound as the speeder lifted off and the supports retracted.

“Want the canopy open or closed?” he asked.

“Um, open,” she replied, not completely sure what he meant.

Another touch of the controls and a cover slid over the cargo compartment, leaving the front seats open to the air. A windshield rose up out of the front panel. “You might want to sit up to start with.”

Lucy readjusted her seat to the upright position and gave him a tentative smile.

“Ready?”

She nodded, doing her best to appear calm when she felt anything but.

With a wicked grin, Tarq slid his finger up the control bar.

The initial accelerative force hit Lucy in the middle of her chest, forcing her back against the seat. “Whoa, momma!”

Tarq was laughing, his hair flying out behind him. “Too fast?”

Lucy shook her head, feeling the thrill all the way to her toes. The wind rippled through her hair as the rocky landscape sped past. No, she didn’t want him to slow down, not one tiny little bit. Hiking across the wilderness might have been liberating, but this was
fun.

Lucy couldn’t suppress her giggles, and soon she was laughing for the sheer joy of it. A feeling like this couldn’t possibly be real. Surely she was still asleep and dreaming—which was the only possible explanation for the way Tarq had reappeared, seemingly out of nowhere. Her initial reluctance to travel with him was forgotten as she became swept up in the moment. Never mind the fact that she would have to go through the torture of giving him up all over again when they reached Yalka. For now, she and Tarq were free to be together, and the feeling was pure magic.

Whether he ever made love to her again or not was immaterial.
You’ve got two days, Lucy. Two whole days. Enjoy them, and never forget them.
She was giving herself excellent advice. Now all she had to do was follow it.

Chapter 9

The excitement of that initial burst of speed eventually settled into the tedious monotony of a long journey. Lucy’s nap had been far too short, and the unchanging landscape and steady rush of the wind soon lulled her to sleep.

A full bladder woke her. She glanced at Tarq but was too embarrassed to say anything. True, she’d seen him naked—had been as intimate with him as a woman could be—but this was different. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Surely he’d have to go at some point himself. Then he would stop.

After several kilometers passed by, Lucy decided he wasn’t going to stop anywhere near soon enough, if at all. She tried turning on her side, which only made matters worse. Why couldn’t she just ask him? After all, she didn’t have to say why…

“Do you need to take a break?”

His question startled her to the point that letting her out was nearly a moot point. “Um, yeah.”

Tarq brought the speeder to a halt just off the trail near some tall jagged rocks that erupted from the ground like teeth.

Lucy raised her seat and twisted around, gazing back down the trail. “Nobody’s following us, are they?”

“No. We’ve passed a few speeders coming from the other direction, though.” He looked at her curiously. “Do you really think your father could catch up with us now?”

Lucy shivered. “To tell you the truth, I wouldn’t put it past him to be in Yalka waiting for me.”

Tarq raised a skeptical eyebrow and patted her hand. “Not likely.”

“I know, but I can’t help feeling that way.” She studied the control icons. “How do I open the door?”

Tarq stretched his arm across her and pointed. “That one.”

Lucy winced. If she could keep him just a little further away, she might be able to get through the next two days without doing something stupid. Like grabbing him around the neck and kissing his lips off. She wondered if he would mind, or if he’d ever made love with one of his previous clients for old times’ sake. Somehow she doubted it.

She tapped the icon and the side folded down. Climbing out, she noted how much cooler it was inside the speeder than out in the open air. She would’ve been getting very hot if she’d stayed where she was when he found her. The speeder must’ve had some sort of climate control feature even with the canopy open.

Tarq got out on the other side. “I’ll be over this way,” he said, gesturing toward a large rock formation.

She nodded, thinking he was being terribly considerate until she realized he probably needed to go too. Maybe he’d been waiting for her to ask. Picking her way through the rocks, she searched for a sheltered spot. This road trip together was proving to be more awkward than she would’ve expected. Still, though he wasn’t human, he was bound to have some of the same needs. On the other hand, he wasn’t pregnant.

Lucy wasn’t feeling any symptoms yet, but she knew that it was only a matter of time before she was having all sorts of difficulties. As far as she knew, Nat hadn’t had any children yet, but she might know someone who could give her some advice. Of course, most women had theirs one at a time. Lucy could hardly wait to see the look on Nat’s face when she told her she was going to have triplets.

Tarq was leaning over the side of the speeder, reaching into the cargo hold when she returned. His jean-clad buns were aimed right at her, begging to be touched—and those amazing thighs… Then she remembered what they looked like without the jeans and her palms began to itch.

He tossed a grin over his shoulder. “Hungry?”

“Yeah, but I brought my own food.”

“Raided the kitchen, didn’t you?”

“How’d you know that?”

“Jublansk gave me some food for the road.”

Lucy chuckled. “Guess she noticed I took all the bread then, didn’t she?”

“Not all of it. You left the rye. She fixed me a couple of corned beef sandwiches with it. Want one?”

Corned beef was one of Lucy’s absolute favorite things. Her mouth began to water. “Wish I’d thought of that.”

Tarq shrugged. “Hey, it’s not like you run away every day. You’ll know better next time.”

Lucy wasn’t sure if he was trying to be funny or not, but when he handed her a sandwich, she realized she didn’t give a damn. “Hot?”

He nodded. “This speeder has all kinds of useful features.”

“No kidding. It must’ve cost a fortune.” She frowned. “You’re really rich, aren’t you?”

Tarq shrugged. “Not as rich as Rutger Grekkor. He’s the one who tried to kill all of us. His assets were divided among the survivors after his death. We went from having nothing to being well off pretty quickly. Then the guys and I made a killing on Rhylos.”

“So I’ve heard,” Lucy said dryly. “According to what Jublansk told me, I got two thousand credits worth of you.”

Tarq actually blushed.

“And you paid me fifteen hundred.” Lucy took a bite of her sandwich and nearly had an orgasm. She hadn’t realized how hungry she was. “Too bad I’m not worth it.”

Tarq glared at her. “I didn’t
pay
you, Lucy—though I did ask you to call me. You aren’t a—” He stopped as though unsure how to continue.