LyonsPrice (7 page)

The other guy—Eoin, she’d figured from the conversation—had
grunted and disappeared out the back door of the cabin without so much as a
word. Samara had tried not to stare as he passed. A carbon copy of Archon, he
had the same muscled build, coloring and face. But a scowl and scars twisted
his features rather than a smile and a heavy medical brace encased one of his
lower legs.

She turned back to the others. Cael was beautiful. Envy
filled her as she studied the cyborg woman. Tall with dark hair plaited close
to her scalp, she had the sort of elegant, slender figure Samara could only
dream of. Even the alphanumeric tattoo on her cheek and the metal encasing her
left hand couldn’t detract from her looks.

She’d relinquished the pilot’s seat to Archon, but perched
on the edge of the row of seats opposite Samara to continue the round of
bickering they’d started ten minutes ago after both had rounded on Lyon for
trying to interrupt.

Thoughts of the tall, handsome cyborg leader chased each
other like eager puppies around her head. Why had he kidnapped her? Heat
flushed her cheeks as he looked over his shoulder and directly at her. It was
like he could pluck the thoughts right out of her head. They weren’t
telepathic, were they? Panic hit her anew, but then she calmed herself. She
couldn’t remember anyone mentioning telepathy as a cyborg ability.

She’d bitten him. She still couldn’t believe she’d done
that.

Deliberately she shifted the focus of her thoughts. Were all
cyborg women like Cael? Were they all that skinny and tall? If she didn’t know
better, she’d have sworn the woman was a supermodel or something, more used to
the glitz and glamour of the intergalactic catwalks than brutal and bloody
warfare.

She bit her lip and listened as her self-confidence tumbled
down around her ears. If they were all like Cael, then what chance did she have
with Lyon? Why had he even bothered to give her a passing glance, never mind
seduce her in his cell…?

Her heart stuttered, then stalled in her chest. The ship had
been abuzz when they’d rendezvoused to pick him up, but no one had said how
long the Fleet had held him prisoner. Perhaps he’d just been away from his
people too long and he’d just needed a woman, any woman.

Biting back tears at the thought, she rested her head
against the back of the seat and closed her eyes. Tiredness swept up in a tidal
wave and crashed over her, sapping what energy she’d had left. Within seconds,
she was asleep.

“She’s very pretty.”

Cael was the first to look over her shoulder when Samara
fell asleep. All with razor-sharp hearing and the ability to monitor heart rate
and respiration even at distance, they’d easily been able to tell when she was
watching them and when she’d finally given in and gone to sleep.

“She is,” Lyon agreed, finally giving in to temptation and
looking over at his little prize himself. She was curled into an
uncomfortable-looking little ball in one of the passenger seats. They were
designed for hulking brutes of marines, so she looked like a child cuddled up
for an impromptu nap. Well, she would if it wasn’t for the curves that filled
the ship-suit out in a
very
un-childlike way.

Cael sighed. “I’d die for a figure like that. You see the
bust on her?”

“Oh yeah…” Archon muttered, a comment which was quickly
followed by two slaps to the back of his head; one from Cael and one from Lyon.

“You keep your eyes to yourself,” Lyon growled and looked at
Cael curiously.

She shrugged. “I felt left out. Do I need a reason?”

“With him, no.”

“She’ll get uncomfortable like that.” Lyon pushed away from
the console and stood. A couple of strides took him across the cabin until he
was stood over her. She was sound asleep, dark eyelashes fluttering against her
pale cheeks. Peaceful, like an angel at rest.

Careful not to disturb her, he gathered her into his arms as
though she weighed nothing. To him, she didn’t. Mumbling something
unintelligible, she nestled against him, her face in the curve where his neck
met his shoulder. Her lips brushed gently against the skin there, the softest
of touches, but one that speared right through his body to his cock.

He closed his eyes for a second to control his bodily
reactions. He’d never had such strong reactions to any woman before. Ever. So
why this one? He entertained the thought that she was some kind of human witch,
designed to drive cyborg men mad, then shook his head, amused at his own
ridiculousness.

He tightened his arms around her and rested his lips and
nose against the top of her head. She’d used some kind of floral shampoo.
Probably last night. He savored the fresh smell and the feeling of her in his
arms. A rush of protectiveness surged through him. He’d take her through to his
cabin. The bed was small but she would be comfortable there and wouldn’t wake
up with the kinks in her back and neck that she’d get sleeping in the chair.

“Lyon?” Cael’s voice stopped him as he turned to head out of
the main cabin. He looked over his shoulder. Her face was curious, her head
tilted to one side. “You could have asked for anything on that ship. Why her?”

He didn’t need to think about the answer.

“She makes me feel human.”

She was comfortable and safe. Murmuring contentment in the
back of her throat, Samara snuggled closer into the warmth that surrounded her.
Warmth that finally resolved itself in her sleepy brain as a hard male body in
the bed with her.

She shifted, her hand wandering over her pillow to test the
solid muscle there. Yes, she thought so. It was definitely a male chest. A hard
male chest covered in satiny skin—her fingers paused on a ridge to explore its
length—and one covered in scars that told of a life of violence.

Lyon.

She kept her eyes closed and floated in that delicious state
between asleep and awake. If she stayed here, she didn’t have to think about
yesterday or deal with it. She could just lie here and enjoy the novelty of
waking up in someone’s arms and feeling cherished.

Five more minutes.

A deep chuckle reverberated through the wide chest she had
her head rested against. “I know you’re awake.”

“Am not,” she protested, but opened her eyes as he shifted.
A warm green gaze locked onto hers. She couldn’t help it, she smiled back
sleepily. They were crammed into a small bed… Well, it would have been a large
bed had she been the sole occupant, but with his large frame wrapped around
her, even an imperial prince’s bed would have seemed on the small side.

The color of his eyes shifted. Moss green darkened to the
color of pine forests during a storm. Heat flared in the darkness as he dropped
his head to claim her lips.

Thoughts crowded into her head, fighting for her attention
like hyperactive children in a classroom. She ignored them and opened up for
him, kissing him back with a hunger that surprised even her.

Just five more minutes, then she’d deal with them.

He moaned, more of a growl from the bottom of his broad
chest, and rolled her onto her back. His battle-hardened body stretched out
over hers, all hard planes against her soft curves. A hair-roughened thigh slid
between hers.

Her eyes shot open as she realized he was naked. The press
of his cock, hard and heavy, against the bare skin of her stomach informed her
that so was she. She’d remembered falling asleep in the main cabin and she’d
certainly been fully dressed. Her heart melted at the same time her body
flooded with heat. He must have undressed her before putting her to bed. What
kind of kidnapper did that?

One who intended to have sex with her, that’s who
,
the cynical voice in the back of her head sniped. She ignored it. Again, even
though she knew, could feel, the restrained strength in his body, she knew that
he wouldn’t hurt her. If she said no, he wouldn’t push her. He wouldn’t force
her.

She didn’t want him to stop. Even though he’d “kidnapped”
her and carted her off to God knew where, she didn’t want him to stop.
Actually, come to think of it, she wasn’t even that scared, as long as he was
with her. It was hard to kidnap the willing.

One of his arms pillowed her head. Looking down into her
face, he brushed the fingers of his free hand down her cheek with an almost
reverent expression. They reached her mouth and traced along the fullness of
her lower lip. She was caught in the spell, watching the changes in his
expression. From reverent to possessive and right into a blazing heat that
scorched the air between them.

She sucked a ragged breath in as he looked back into her
eyes, his look direct and searing. How could he do that…make her feel hot and
jittery, like she’d run a marathon, yet unfulfilled at the same time?

“You’re beautiful.”

“Sure you weren’t dropped on your head as a baby?” She
snorted at the ridiculous idea that someone would think her beautiful after
being in the same room as Cael. Then she remembered cyborgs were grown in tanks
and matured to adulthood before they were “born”. Lyon had never been a child
in the real sense of the word.

Heat crawled over her cheeks.
Great move, Samara. Open
mouth, insert foot.

“Never mind, forget I said anything,” she said quickly,
hoping to cover her slip, and smoothed a hand down his bare chest.

He was all tanned, scarred skin and sexiness. Rugged and
ruthless. Just the way she liked them… Okay, just the way she’d always
fantasized about. She still wasn’t sure that this wasn’t a fantasy. Perhaps
she’d hit her head and this was all just a highly charged erotic dream. If so,
she hoped she stayed in a coma.

She reached his stomach and slid lower to run a finger along
his rigid cock. It jumped as she touched it, his nostrils flaring as the heat
in his eyes reached an inferno.

“Now, are you going to follow up on this promise,” she
smiled wickedly, unable to resist temptation. “Or do I have to call in one of
those handsome boys from out there… Archon is cute.”

She’d been baiting him for a reaction, but she wasn’t
prepared for the one she received. Fury flared in his eyes as he reared back to
glare down at her.

“He’s scrap. You’re mine,” he snarled and grabbed her hand
from his cock. As she squeaked in surprise, he captured the other and stretched
both above her head. He’d always been gentle with her before, but now his
control slipped, his hold just this side of painful.

“Mine, not Archon’s…not any other guy’s. Not. Ever.”

A thrill shot through her at his declaration and the hard
look on his face. He looked ready to take on the universe and destroy it all,
just because she’d mentioned another man.

Playing with fire, she shrugged. “All I’m hearing is a lot
of talk here…”

He narrowed his eyes, the green glittering beneath the slits
of his eyelids. “You want action, sweetling? I’ll give you some action.”

She hid her triumphant smile and gave him her best wide-eyed
and innocent look. His possessive tone and edge in his voice warned her that he
was just on the edge of his control. She liked that, liked that she threatened
that iron grip he seemed to have on himself. The urge to push him further, to
push him over that edge and see what happened, gripped her.

He shifted on the bed, his knee pushing her knees farther
apart in a rough move. She sucked a shuddering breath in as he shoved his hips
against hers and the thick head of his cock pressed at the entrance to her
pussy.

“I’ll give you all the action you’ll ever need,” he
promised. With a powerful roll of his hips, he thrust all the way inside her
until his balls pressed against the cheeks of her ass. Her breathing stopped as
he filled her, pressing against the walls of her pussy. The friction and
fullness were addictive. She tried to breathe through her nose as she waited
for the stretched feeling to abate, but he didn’t give her time.

“Mine,” he growled again as he pulled back and slammed into
her again, as though the word was pulled unwillingly from the depths of his
soul. His body covered hers protectively as he fucked her in long, powerful
thrusts.

Like a feral beast holding on to its prey, he pulled her
close and buried his face against her neck. His lips whispered against her
neck, but he didn’t kiss her, instead he nuzzled at the spot under her ear that
sent shivers through her body. Her pussy clenched hard around him, loosing a rush
of liquid heat over the cock buried deep inside her.

He groaned approval and rolled onto his back with her still
impaled on his rigid erection. Hands hard on her hips, he held her still as he
drove up into her silken depths. “Lady, you’re fucking addictive. What have you
done to me?”

Chapter Six

What had she done to him? Hours later, Lyon all but stumbled
from the master cabin with just that question rolling through his mind. Sex
shouldn’t be like this. It was an itch to be scratched. Wham, bam, thank you,
ma’am. Sorted. End of. It shouldn’t be this endless torment of not being able
to get enough. Of finishing and within seconds being hard and aching for her
all over again.

He leaned against the wall of the short corridor, his head
back against the cool metal, and tried to wrap his mind around everything that
had happened. He could have had any number of supplies from the
Valkyrie
,
the captain there really hadn’t had a leg to stand on, he’d have had to comply
with Lyon’s request or lose his ship.

He
should
have picked the supplies. They were low on
just about everything back at base. A cause was all well and good, but it
didn’t put food into the many mouths he had to feed. Although they were part
machine, cyborgs were also bio-organic. And they ate a
lot
. Mealtime in
the communal mess hall was like watching a plague of locusts descend and pick
everything clean.