Authors: Nina Pierce
With
the agility and confidence of one of Chicago’s finest, Lilly
charged, the knife extended. Thaegan let out a war cry as he reached
out to disarm Lilly. What happened next may have appeared in slow
motion, but Dallas would never be sure how the petite woman had
managed it. There was a tangling of arms, a juggling of the dagger
and Lilly’s booted foot shot out and up. Somehow she managed to
use Thaegan’s momentum against him. The large alien lost his
balance, sprawled on his back and slid along the floor, smashing into
the chair near Dallas. It was a wonder he hadn’t been taken
down as well.
Silence
pinged off the walls of the tiny cabin as the three of them
assimilated the events of the last minute.
Dallas
retrieved his jeans and pulled himself back together. Lilly bounced
on the balls of her feet, the dagger still in her hand and extended,
prepared for another attack. Thaegan slowly sat up, his fingers
probing his scalp for damages. Dallas wanted to laugh at his
partner’s pinched expression. He’d never seen the large
alien bested by anyone in hand-to-hand combat, let alone a small
woman.
“
Enough
is enough, asshole.” Lilly’s angry words brought him up
short.
Dallas
stepped toward her, his hand extended. But the warning look she shot
stopped him cold. “Lilly, put down the dagger. You’ve got
to see how this looked to Thaegan.”
“
What
I
see,
Dallas, is a couple of government idiots who
overpowered an innocent woman doing her
job
. I think it’s
me
who should be pissed at you for costing me a bounty. Not
the other way around.”
The
woman had morphed from wanton seductress to pissed-off woman in two
seconds flat. Not that he blamed her. They’d kidnapped her,
tied her up and now Thaegan had tried to attack her a second time in
less than two hours. She had every right to resent them. But, shit,
she did look sexy as hell with that dangerous mien of female
indignation sparking in her eyes. Her breasts bounced enticingly with
her anger, her hair disheveled from the altercation with Thaegan. And
that mouth spewing fury was still swollen from his kisses.
Jesus
,
the blood rushing to his groin was making it hard to focus.
“
Lilly,
we—”
“
I
told you not to untie her.” Thaegan shifted and began to stand.
“
Stay
down, Ka’al,” Lilly commanded. “I like you right
there.”
Thaegan
acted as if she’d said nothing and stood next to Dallas,
disgust deepening the ridges on his nose.
“
I’m
warning you, Ka’al. One move and I
will
gut you with
this dagger. I’ve got enough negative energy pulsing around me,
that the dagger will do most of the work.”
His
partner quirked an eyebrow. Lilly may have caught him off guard once,
but Dallas had no doubt the alien wouldn’t let it happen a
second time.
Again
Thaegan ignored her. “This certainly does complicate things.”
The Ka’al sniffed the air then Dallas. “By the Gods, you
didn’t.”
Dallas
shrugged.
“
She
got to you too? Obviously, even that artificial shit flowing through
your veins doesn’t stop her witchery. Is that why you untied
her?”
He
turned to face his partner. Dallas wasn’t sure what was
irritating him more, the fact his partner was questioning his motives
or the fact he hadn’t bothered to resist his own selfish needs.
“I untied her because she’s no threat to me.”
“
She
controls you whether you feel it or not.”
“
Is
she controlling
you
right now? Is that why you’re being
such an asshole?” Dallas asked.
Thaegan
paused. He inhaled deeply and turned to stare at Lilly.
“
I’m
not doing shit to you, Ka’al,” Lilly said.
“
Indeed
you’re not,” Thaegan responded.
Dallas
bent, picked up his shirt and tossed it to Lilly. Her nudity didn’t
seem to be bothering anyone but him. The sight of her pendulous
breasts and miles of alabaster skin made it hard for him to think
with the head on his shoulders.
“
So
where does that leave us?” he asked.
But
his partner ignored him and focused on Lilly. “How the hell did
you stop the magic?”
“
It’s
not magic, idiot. I control the flow of energy.” She spoke as
she worked the last few buttons of Dallas’ shirt, the dagger
held loose in her hand. “I can ratchet it up or power it down.
Simple.”
It
was true. Current didn’t seem to be humming over her trembling
muscles the way it had when she was tied to the chair. Dallas would
like to think it had more to do with his sexual prowess in bringing
her to orgasm than her ability to manipulate her own energy levels.
Thaegan
slapped his hands together. “Well, then it seems she’s
safe to transport to headquarters. No sense waiting until morning. We
might as well roll.”
“
I’m
not going to your headquarters now or in the morning.”
“
Yeah,
the more I’ve been thinking about this the more I’m
thinking that’s not a good idea,”
“
What
the hell, man?” asked Thaegan.
“
Just
hear me out. We suspect the Znedu’s boss has something to do
with…” Dallas paused, he definitely wasn’t
thinking straight. That was QAL information. He had no illusion that
a former detective didn’t pick up on his slip, but he continued
as if he hadn’t just passed on sensitive information. “Since
Lilly has a connection now to Grebetz, I’m thinking it’s
probably not safe for her at headquarters.”
He
absently fingered the scar running down his face, the only part of
his near-death experience he refused to let the doctors on Canus
Delta heal. “There’s no one at headquarters who can
interrogate her better than you and me.” It had nothing to do
with interrogation techniques and everything to do with the suspicion
that there was someone in QAL playing both sides. In the last few
months, as
Hij’Rozhod
continued to evade detection, he’d
come to believe it might even be someone on his own team. Dallas
wasn’t willing to risk his mission or Lilly’s life trying
to confirm that suspicion. “It’s not just about Grebetz,
if you get my drift.”
“
You
mean it’s about the Znedu’s boss?” Lilly asked.
After
everything Dallas had said of course it was the one thing Lilly
focused on. He turned to look at her, not sure how he should answer
her.
“
I
know who Grebetz’s boss is,” she said. Okay, so that
might not be the truth. Lilly
suspected
she’d seen
Venair Grebetz’s boss. The hologram of the Braugtot had
certainly flustered the otherwise confident Znedu. But if this was a
bargaining chip to keep her from QAL headquarters, then she’d
go all in.
Dallas
walked up to her. “What do you mean you
know
his boss?
Have you been hunting him?”
“
She’s
lying,” Thaegan said. “The witch is trying to buy some
time.”
“
Shut
up, Thaegan.” Dallas kept his dark eyes focused solely on her.
Her stomach did a slow roll that had nothing to do with fear.
“
Lilly,
tell me exactly what you meant,” Dallas said.
“
I
haven’t exactly been hunting him.”
“
How
about if you elaborate.” Dallas dragged the words out slowly.
He
reached for the dagger in her hand and she gladly handed it over to
him. What Lilly needed was for Dallas to trust her. She no longer
wanted to get away from this man, quite the contrary as a matter of
fact. It had been so long since a human male had touched her with the
passion Dallas had, and Lilly wanted more of that even if Dallas
didn’t believe she had control over his desires.
“
I’ll
tell you only if I still get the bounty for Grebetz,” she said
bravely. Even male companionship wouldn’t keep her fed.
“
I
don’t think you’re in a position to make any kind of
deal,
Seraphelium
,” Thaegan said.
Dallas
turned abruptly to his partner. “Damn it, Thaegan, I’m
warning you…” He breathed deeply as if steadying himself
before turning back to Lilly. The hard expression on his face mapped
emotions she couldn’t read. “Obviously there’s more
going on here than we can tell you. We’re both a little on
edge. This mission—”
“
Oh,
cut me some fucking slack.” Thaegan threw his hands in the air.
“You may be team leader, but my ass is also on the line here. I
don’t think a couple of quickies qualifies her to join the
team.”
Dallas’
eyes narrowed to deadly slits. “Not that I have to explain
anything to you, Ka’al, but we’re looking for something
from her, the least I can do is explain why.”
“
Oh,
that makes perfect sense,” Thaegan said. “She’s
some low-life criminal with a nice set of tits who botched up months
of undercover work. And when we stepped in and stop her, she tried to
gut you with a knife. When that didn’t work, she took me down
with her fucked-up witchery. Then, when we’ve finally got her
safely under control, she manages to screw your brains out and get
you to release her because you didn’t believe a word I said and
you let her get you sidetracked and thinking with your dick. And now
we’re not going to interrogate the only person who might have
some information we can finally use—because Gods forbid we
might get all mean and nasty with a beautiful female who also happens
to be a
suspect
.” Thaegan righted the chair where she’d
been bound and stuffed his oversized body onto the tiny seat. “And
now that I’m all settled into a sweet ringside seat—because
I sure as shit don’t want to miss one minute of this crazy-ass
show—why don’t we all just play nice in this cozy little
sandbox and share a little top secret information? That just about
cover it,
partner
?”
“
How
about if you shut up and let me handle this my way?” asked
Dallas.
“
You’ve
done a bang-up job so far.” Thaegan leaned back, casually
folding his hands behind his head. “By all means don’t
let me stop you. Seems like your dick’s got one hell of a
plan.”
Dallas
flipped him the bird before turning back to her. “As I was
saying, Lilly, the person we’re looking for may be the key to
cleaning up a whole lot of shit that’s been thrown at us over
the past couple of years.”
“
Eleven
months,” Thaegan muttered.
“
Fuck
you, asshole! I mean really. Fuck you all the way from here to Beta
Mrenn.” Dallas trembled with anger.
“
I’m
just saying. It’s only been eleven months. If you’re
going to spill your fucking guts and tell her everything, get your
facts right.” Thaegan tipped the chair up on its back legs.
Dallas
turned, his teeth grinding as he spoke directly to his partner. “What
I was going to tell her was how dangerous this whole situation is and
perhaps Lilly would just like to share what she knows and that would
be the end of it.”
“
Or
perhaps Lilly would like to be part of the Znedu’s takedown so
she’s guaranteed her cut of the bounty.” Lilly said,
sending Dallas a smug smile when he turned to stare her down.
“
And
there you have it,” the Ka’al added. “Just like
that the outlaw joins the team.” Thaegan began clapping.
“
She’s
not part of the team,” Dallas argued. “Lilly isn’t
going anywhere near that takedown.”
“
Well,
then it looks like you’re on your own, Mr. Government Man. I’m
a freaking awesome undercover detective, which is why I’m so
good at my job. I can bring the Znedu in myself. But we both know
that without my help you’ll be chasing dust trails trying to
find Grebetz’s boss.” She crossed her arms under her
breasts, challenging him.
“
Oh,
we are so not going there.” Dallas stalked away from her, his
fingers plowing through the damp waves of his hair.
“
Seems
to me you’re the one who opened
that
door.”
Thaegan’s chair banged down, emphasizing his words. “And
now that we’re headed in that direction—”
“
No!
We get the information and take it back to headquarters. Nothing
more. Lilly goes back to whatever she was doing before we crossed
paths and stays the hell away from Grebetz. We can do this without
her if we have to.”
Thaegan
stared at Lilly, ignoring Dallas’ protests. “I don’t
have to like the witch to see how helpful she could be. And I’m
thinking she may be on to something.”
“
Shut
up, Thaegan. Really, just shut the fuck up!” Dallas shouted.
“
Get
your head off Canus Delta and back in the game here on Garalon Five,
dickwad. You said it yourself. Someone’s been one step ahead of
us everywhere we turn. Why? Because they’ve got someone on the
inside. Now it’s our chance to put a ringer in the game. No
one, not even our own team, will suspect her.”
“
What
the hell?” Dallas asked. “An hour ago you were ready to
string her up from the rafters. Not five minutes ago you were
bitching that I was sharing too much.”
“
An
hour ago she had me wound tighter than a virgin in a titty bar.”
Thaegan raised his hands in the air and shrugged. “You two
aren’t the only ones who released a little sexual energy and
it’s making my head clearer. Now I’m thinking the vixen
may be an asset to us.” He looked pointedly at Lilly. “As
long as you keep your hands to yourself, I’m willing to discuss
this.”