Authors: Nina Pierce
The
Ka’al stepped closer. Laying his hands on the arms of the
chair, he leaned in, the smooth heat of his cheek brushing across her
face. He closed his eyes and filled his lungs with her fragrance. She
squirmed in the chair, releasing the musky odor that must be driving
him insane. Controlling the men while their libidos raged was her
only hope.
Warm
air lifted her hair as he exhaled. “Your smell is sweet to be
sure, Lilly. But we both know without your hands you’re quite
dead in the water.” His voice was a mere whisper of breath in
her ear. “I intend to prove what you are to Dallas. You can
either cooperate or not. Either way, I don’t give a shit.”
He
straightened, and for the first time since she’d escaped
captivity—Lilly feared for her life.
The
quiet snick of the Ba’alkin dagger was like a sonic boom in the
stillness of the room. She couldn’t control the gasp of terror
or the twitch of muscle as the sound filled the cabin. When Thaegan
lifted it, the blade reflected menacingly in the low light of the
cabin.
“
Dallas,
you’re not going to let him…not with the Ba’alkin
dagger?” The question trembled through her dry lips. “This
is seriously out of control. I’m willing to answer your
questions without violence,” Lilly begged as Thaegan laid the
cold blade against her cheek, sending shivers of alarm through her
veins. Lilly closed her eyes, waiting for it to rip through the
pounding pulse of her jugular.
Chapter Five
Dallas
trusted Thaegan with his life. In the past five years, the Ka’al
had saved his ass more times than he cared to remember. But he wasn’t
sure exactly what Lilly had done to his partner. Thaegan seemed hyped
up on some drug that had him operating in an alternate dimension.
“
Thaegan,
go easy with the knife.” Dallas shifted so he was in his
partner’s peripheral vision. “She’s tied up like a
prisoner of war, for chrissake. She’s not going anywhere.”
The
blade brushed down Lilly’s neck, the hard throb of her pulse
lifting the alabaster skin of her throat. Dallas had kissed that
spot, thrilling in the power he’d had to make her heart race.
Now, as she forced her eyes open, the cold glint of fear offset the
proud set of her jaw and Dallas worried for her safety. “Thaegan,
put the God damn knife away.” The command did nothing to shift
his partner’s attention.
“
I
can’t,” he said without taking his eyes off Lilly.
Thaegan dragged the tip of the blade down her chest. “You’re
not going to admit anything unless we force the issue, are you,
Lilly?” With a flick of his wrist, the first button of Lilly’s
blouse flew through the air and bounced on the wooden floor. The
noise split the heavy silence like a gong.
“
Thaegan,”
Dallas said his name evenly, stepping closer to the chair. He wasn’t
sure how he could take down the Ka’al without the blade
injuring Lilly. Dallas was becoming more convinced with each passing
minute that his partner was losing his grip on reality. “I
really think you need to put the knife down.”
With
another twist of Thaegan’s wrist, the second button followed
the path of the first. “Not going to happen, Sawyer. I intend
to prove,” the knife flashed and a third button flew, “what
she is. Then we’ll figure out what the hell she’s up to.”
Flick, flick, flick and the last three buttons fell to the floor.
Thaegan
used the knife to part Lilly’s blouse, exposing the creamy
flesh of her heaving breasts. The Ka’al leaned in close and
inhaled her scent. The low purr of his partner’s arousal
vibrated the air. Dallas had heard it before, but never when the big
alien was holding a woman at knife point.
“
Jesus,
Thaegan, what the hell are you doing?” Dallas stepped closer.
Thaegan
turned, aiming the knife at Dallas. “Back. Off.”
“
I’m
not going to stand here while you rape Lilly.” He used her name
on purpose, trying to keep everything personal.
“
Leave
him, Dallas. The big, red asshole doesn’t frighten me.”
Lilly
shifted in the chair, sitting up straighter. The subtle roll of her
shoulders accentuated her plentiful cleavage. The lines between her
brow softened and Dallas could swear her mouth became fuller, more
inviting.
“
The
Ka’al doesn’t know what he’s talking about. He’s
an oversized male with a knife. Probably trying to compensate for his
small…parts.” Her chin jutted forward. “Strip me
bare. I don’t give a shit.”
Thaegan
leaned in close, his mouth curving in a maniacal smile. “It’s
exactly what I intend to do, Seraphelium.” The knife came up
fast and hard, cutting the center of Lilly’s bra. The lacy
slips of material fell away, leaving her luscious breasts exposed.
Pink patches of skin showed where Dallas’ whiskers had burned
the tender flesh earlier in the evening.
“
That’s
enough.” Dallas spoke with conviction, trying to get his
partner’s attention. When that didn’t work, he stepped
forward, his hand coming up under Thaegan’s forearm and
catching his wrist. He used his momentum to twist the knife away from
Lilly’s vulnerable flesh and push the Ka’al away from the
chair. “What the fuck are you doing, Thaegan?”
Anger
rumbled through the alien’s chest, vibrating the air. They both
knew it would take nothing for Thaegan to break free of Dallas’
grasp. But his partner just stood toe-to-toe with him, the knife
between them, his eyes locked on Dallas.
“
Get
out of my way, human.”
“
You’ll
have to go through me to get to her.” Dallas nodded his head in
Lilly’s direction. “You’re better than this
degradation.”
“
But
I need to prove it. Even with her hands bound, she controls us.”
Thaegan inhaled deeply. “Tell me her scent isn’t heating
your blood.”
Dallas
couldn’t admit that. The moment he’d bound Lilly’s
legs to the chair, he’d smelled the intoxicating aroma of her.
It had brought him back to the silken heat of her flesh surrounding
his cock. But he’d pushed that aside, he needed to focus on the
madness overtaking Thaegan.
He
lowered his voice. “The
only
thing that’s
important right now is finding out what she was doing with Grebetz.”
“
Sawyer.”
He felt the muscles of Thaegan’s forearm relax. “She has
the mark. I know it. I just don’t know where.” His
partner stepped back, turning his palm up, offering Dallas the
dagger. “It’s the kiss of evil. I had no intention of
hurting her. I was just trying to find it.”
Dallas
took the knife.
“
You’re
right. I shouldn’t be so close to the witch,” Thaegan
said, visibly shaken by what had just happened. “You search
her, and when you find it, you’ll understand the truth.”
Dallas
looked over his shoulder at Lilly. Unspoken questions ricocheted in
her coffee eyes and trembled along her chin. He suspected his partner
understood something he didn’t. The woman definitely had some
kind of hold on men. And this
was
deep space after all. There
was no reason Lilly couldn’t be some alien life form he’d
never heard of. Resigned to keep her safe, Dallas decided to follow
through with his partner’s plan.
“
What
does it look like?” Dallas asked.
His
partner looked at him as if he’d grown a second Xerick head.
“How the hell should I know? It’s a fucking male fantasy
that I never believed would become flesh. But here we are.”
Dallas
walked back to Lilly. The corners of her sumptuous mouth trembled
with a nervous smile. “If I untie you, would—”
“
You
are
not
untying her,” Thaegan yelled.
Turning
around, Dallas faced a very angry Ka’al. “For chrissake,
Thaegan, there are two of us and one of her.”
“
No.
No. No. And did I say
fuck
no?” Thaegan grabbed Dallas’
shoulders, digging his beefy fingers into the muscle. “Please
just trust me on this. Leave her bound to the chair. If there’s
no mark we’ll release her and I’ll commit myself to the
loony bin on Pteran Omega. Because then I’ll know this
shit-assed heat sparking through my veins, driving me fucking nuts
and making me horny as hell is all in my head and not something she’s
doing to me.”
“
She’s
not even touching you.”
Thaegan
released Dallas and waved his hands in frustration. “But it’s
in the air. Like static electricity, it’s just hanging here.”
Thaegan’s gaze dropped to Dallas’ leg. “But I think
you can control her.”
Dallas
didn’t know if that was the case, but the undisciplined way his
logical partner was acting was completely out of character. He had to
believe something was going on.
“
What
do I need to do?” Dallas asked.
“
Cut
off her clothes and search every inch of her skin for something,
anything
that isn’t a normal human mark.”
He
turned back to Lilly. She’d schooled her expression. Her face
no longer held any emotion, as if she were resigned to whatever he
needed to do. What he really needed to do was release her and sink
his cock deep in her wet heat and forget that she’d likely
screwed up everything with Grebetz. What Dallas did instead was turn
and drop to his knees front of her.
“
You
know I’m not going to hurt you, right?”
Her
head bobbed in affirmation, but her eyes and thinned lips remained
firm and immovable.
“
You
would make it easier on us if you just told Thaegan what he wants to
know.”
“
But
I haven’t any idea what he’s talking about.”
Lilly’s chin jutted forward once again, her tone pitched ever
so slightly higher as she spoke.
If
Dallas hadn’t spent months in Quantico, studying interrogation
techniques, he wouldn’t have picked up on the lie.
He
wasn’t sure what he’d find, but he was resigned to
stripping her naked to uncover whatever it was she was hiding.
Looking into the chocolate pools of her eyes was too difficult, so
Dallas stood and walked to the back of the chair. Gently, he put the
blade of the Ba’alkin dagger into the cuff of her fur coat. The
black mark on her shoulder, singed by the laser, screamed at him.
Like he needed another reminder of how he’d already hurt her
tonight.
Dallas
tried to convince himself that none of this was his fault. If Lilly
would come clean he’d have the truth and this whole ordeal
would be over. He’d simply turn her over to Bastower at QAL
headquarters and file this night under the “Shitty Memories”
category.
But
Lilly was forcing him to humiliate her and that just pissed him off.
Well, he’d just get this whole damn mess over. He pressed the
blade upward, intent on cutting through the coat’s sleeve, but
it jumped out of control. The dagger curved toward her wrist and
Dallas whipped it away before it ripped open Lilly’s arm.
“
What
the hell was that?” Dallas looked up at Thaegan.
“
I
guess I should’ve mentioned the dagger feeds off strong
negative emotions. Anger. Resentment. Misery. It senses it in the
handler and seeks to draw blood.” Thaegan shrugged. “I
have no idea how it works, but it’s the reason Ba’alkin
daggers aren’t legal. I figured you knew.” He shot him a
false smile. “Think happy thoughts and you won’t hurt
her.”
“
You
could’ve mentioned that
before
I put the blade to her
skin.”
“
My
bad.”
Dallas
brought the blade back to the sleeve of Lilly’s coat, filling
his mind with thoughts of her writhing against his body. With gentle
sawing motions, he cut from wrist to neck, letting the front of the
coat fall to the floor. He did the same to the other sleeve and soft
fur lay at her feet like some wounded animal. He wouldn’t
bother with the back until he’d separated the sleeves of her
blouse.
He
couldn’t quite ignore the quick rise and fall of her breasts,
their pink nipples pinched into tight points, begging for his
attention. Blood rushed to his cock and Dallas had all he could do to
focus on the sleeve in his fingers. With great care, he cut down the
white satin fabric from throat to wrist, the material only half as
soft as the skin beneath. He lifted the straps of her bra away from
her shoulders before slicing them through.
Setting
down the knife, he offered Lilly another chance to stop this madness.
“Are you sure there isn’t something you want to tell us?”
Lilly’s
shoulders stiffened beneath his hands. Continuing to stare straight
ahead, she shook her head in response. The flaxen waves of her hair
brushed seductively across the backs of his hands and Dallas had to
bite back a groan.
He
hated that she was making him do this, but he had no choice. He felt
Thaegan’s anticipation like a force slamming into him. He
reached over her shoulders and laid his palms high on her chest,
brushing away the remnants of both the front of her blouse and the
bra. The floral scent of her perfume wrapped around his nose and he
wanted nothing more than to step to the front of the chair and bury
his face between her breasts, filling his lungs with the heady scent.
When
Thaegan’s hungry gaze traveled the length of her torso and
back, a shiver rippled up Lilly’s back. Dallas gave her
shoulders a reassuring squeeze as his thumbs absently stroked the
sides of her neck.