Passionate Desire (3 page)

Sleek and black, the small ship’s nose had buried itself in the ground pretty deep, but he could see the door so could still get the ship to open, if he could figure out where the controls were on the outside. Kuarto looked for a seam or seal, but didn’t spot it. At least not right away. He rubbed his hands along the body of the ship, searching, hoping he’d hit some sort of indentation. “Ah. There you are. Can’t hide from me for long, can you?”

He had been labeled brilliant by his peers. Had been the most sought after doctor in the galaxy and hated it. So he just took off, changed his name, and found some tiny back water planet to hide on. If these people knew who he was he’d probably find himself drugged and sold to someone who knew his value. Which was why he didn’t want this kind of intrusion. He had worked hard to keep his true identity secret and he didn’t need some uninvited guest to screw things up for him.

He could have totally ignored this but he had two things that didn’t work in his favor. One was the ship landed too close to his home for him to pretend it didn’t happen. The other was his oath as a doctor. He needed to be sure the people inside were okay before he read them the riot act and sent them on their way.

He pressed the lever and watched in satisfaction as the doors opened. He had hoped to find the ship empty, thinking it could be unmanned by the size at first but he spotted a body slumped over in the seat, which killed that idea. The pilot was incased in a head to toe uniform. The suit was sealed, giving the pilot as much protection as it could during the landing. That was good. He should have survived the crash.

And someone to yell at always made him feel better.

The interior still billowed heavy smoke, which hindered his vision. He needed to get the pilot out so he could see to their injuries. After being sure he could move the pilot, Kuarto slung him over his shoulder and carried him out. His burden was a lot lighter than he expected. “What are you, a boy?”

This guy couldn’t have weighed more than one hundred and seventy-five pounds and he was a tall one. Close to seven feet. Kuarto wasn’t short. He was well over seven feet but he tried to play that down as much as possible. There weren’t too many races with that kind of height and he didn’t want to think of what that could mean.

He laid the body on the ground and searched for the seal of the suit. It looked vaguely familiar. Vespian in design. Not too many people knew about that race but being the most sought after doctor did have its perks. It took a second for him to find the right spot. A grin spread across his face when he heard a faint noise as the glove he held came off into his hand.

He worked on the helmet, releasing the catches before he could remove it. His first glimpses of the face didn’t make him happy. “Oh, this can’t be good.”

A whole bunch of hair spilled out. What he knew of the Vespians was limited. Very alpha, very big and very private. Most of the ones he had treated took his help with a glare and were gone the moment they could leave but all of them had been male. This one was female. He didn’t know a damn thing about their females.

He brushed her hair out of her face. To make matters worse she was by far the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. “Probably my mind sharing couple’s libido talking.”

Kuarto had taken an oath of celibacy when he walked away from his old life. The less ties he had anywhere the better. Being attracted to someone could cause trouble for him and would complicate too many things. Knowing he was attracted to her made him weary. Better to get her on the road to recovery and on her way.

She had a strong pulse, and other than the nasty gash on her forehead, she hadn’t been hurt too badly. “So, how did you get that gash in this getup?” The suit should have protected her completely.

He pulled out his portable kit and used what he needed to start her healing process. In seconds her eyes fluttered open.

Golden eyes with a bright green ring stared up at him. “Who are you?”

“Kuarto.”

She struggled to move.

“Hang on, now.” He gently pushed her back down. “You’ve just been in a crash and it might take you a moment or two to get your body to respond the way you want.”

Her eyes filled with confusion as she was able to turn her head so she could look over her shoulder to see the ship. “I flew that?”

Okay, that was not a good question and he knew it. How badly did she hit her head before she got the helmet on? “What is your name?”

“My name?” She looked up at him, fear creeping into the golden depths. “I don’t know.”

“That’s fine.” Although it wasn’t. He checked the readings on his scanner to see if he could reverse the memory loss. “I’ll pull the records from your database on board and will get your file. Memory loss isn’t unusual with something like this.”

A weird hum filled the air around them. He knew that sound and it wasn’t any better than her amnesia. Kuarto only had seconds to react. He pulled a device from his pocket, and activated it before he spread his body over hers. The moment the force field activated, the ship exploded, taking any information he could have gotten to help her remember who she was.

Now he had a very pretty guest to contend with.

And explain.

****

“Sir? We’ve lost contact with her ship.”

Storm turned to glare at the young man who just spoke. He could see the readings too. “Do you know why?”

“No, sir.” The young man swallowed hard. “On her last check in everything was fine. She was headed to the coordinates programmed into her ship. As far as we can tell, she was close when the ship stopped communicating with us.”

He really didn’t need this. “Give me all the data on her last coordinates.”

The young man nodded and downloaded the info to a disk. He handed it to Storm with shaky hands.

Storm took the chip and walked out of the command center. It looked like he needed to go find his sister before she got into any more trouble. He crossed the open atrium to get to their rooms, wondering what Heather had been up to. Normally, she would brush her mind up against his from time to time but today he hadn’t felt her presence once.

He walked into a darkened room and felt his heart stop for just a moment. After all they had been through he feared she would be taken from him again. Until the person behind her kidnapping was found and stopped, Storm would be vigilant.

He spotted her silhouette and breathed a sigh of relief.

“You worry too much.” She stood as he walked toward her.

“Only about you.” He walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her. “Why are you sitting in the dark?”

“I was meditating.” She rested her head on his chest, listening to the beat of his heart.

“Everything okay?” He touched her stomach as he led her to the couch and eased her down.

“Of course.” She brushed her hair out of her face and gave him an exasperated look. “Please don’t treat me like I’m some sort of fragile flower. We have another sixteen months left on this pregnancy and I’ll go crazy if you start being too overprotective this early.”

“Can’t help myself.” He gave her one of his bone melting smiles. “But you do know how to distract me, don’t you.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck. “I think I have an idea.”

He bent his head to hers and captured her lips with his. He loved the taste of her. Her tongue slid against his, making him groan at the pleasure. He then moved his lips to her throat where he loved to nibble.

“You’re home early.” She tilted her head aside so he could have the access he loved.

“I know. I went to speak to my mother.” He worked on the seams of the dress she wore. “My sister has turned up missing.”

She pulled back to look at him, stopping him for a moment. “That’s not good.”

“I’m sure it’s nothing.” He went back to the seams of her gown, opening it easily, exposing her body to his gaze. Storm found it flawless, the velvet skin begging for his touch. His fingers caressed her softness as the dress dropped to the ground. “But I’m going to go check it out to be sure.”

“I’m going with you.” She had already opened the seams of his uniform. All he had to do now was walk out of it.

His hands cupped her breasts. This was one thing he didn’t want. She had a way of getting what she wanted even when he was dead set against it. “You know, I think these are a little fuller than they use to be.”

“Don’t change the subject.” She put her hands on her hips. “I’m going with you.”

“Heather.” He lifted her in his arms, and carried her to their bed, hoping he could distract her enough to forget her desire to accompany him. Why did he even mention it?

But Heather knew what he was up to. She smiled up at him, ready to accept him into her body like she had hundreds of times before. The moment he surged into her he could only think of the wonderful sensations their joining caused.

“You are taking me with you.” Her voice, laced with her desire was soft in his ear.

“Too dangerous.” There was no conviction in his voice and he knew it, but he was too caught up in the intimacy they shared. Everything washed over him. He felt her muscles tighten against him, sending delightful frissons up his spine.

“Why?” She licked her lips as one shiver of excitement raced through her blood.

He felt her body quake as it took control of her for a second or two. Every once in a while he stroked her just right and it fanned her desire to a white hot flame. “My heart.”

“I promise to be a good little mate and obey your every command, plus we can do this whenever you want.” Her muscles had him in a steel grip. Every time he slid in and out it just heightened everything.

“Oh, you don’t fight fair.” He picked up the pace, causing her muscles to ripple against him. His body shook at the feel of her tight sheath rubbing against him.

“And, oh my,” she stopped talking, heat unfurling in her stomach. It blossomed out, filling every fiber of her being. Her mind brushed against his as her release was on top of her. “You don’t?”

Like a light being turned on, Heather’s orgasm grabbed her and filled her with overwhelming joy. It spilled over into his mind so he felt the same emotions she did. His release was just as powerful, making them both speechless. Heather floated back down, relaxing against the pillows with a smile on her face.

“Oh, and I think I found another outfit you might like.”

He perked right up. Rising up on his elbows, he looked down at her. “Really?”

“I’ll save it for when we return home.”

“Home?” He nuzzled her neck. “Why?”

“There’s not a lot of privacy on those scout ships.” A sigh escaped her as he nibbled on her throat. “Remember what happened the last time we were around people and I wore one of your favorite outfits. It almost caused a riot just because I bent over the wrong way. I don’t like being an exhibitionist despite what that picture shows. What I do, I do for you.”

“And I like my own private shows.” He sighed. “So now you’re not only demanding that I take you with me, but we have our own ship?”

“I wouldn’t dare make a demand like that.” She brushed his hair with her fingers. “I know better.”

“But if I go along with this I get to see the new outfit and you will do whatever I ask of you?” He studied her face, watching as her eyes dilated at the promise of his threat.

“Your wish is my command.”

“You know that could get you into trouble.” He lowered his mouth to her mark. Still deep inside her he felt her body pulse as he pushed his tongue along the tissue.

She arched up against him. “I hope so.”

****

Kuarto had to come up with a reason why he suddenly had a woman at his place. His mind sharers had just sent him off for a few moments, but he had regained control and now needed to work on what he hoped the people here would believe.

The people in this small village all knew each other so a stranger would attract a lot of attention. Then he remembered one of the men talking about ordering a mail-order bride. That might work out for him since there were women from other planets willing to move to some of the more remote outposts to find a husband. Their own worlds were hard and husbands were rare. All he had to worry about was whether or not Vespians were listed. If so, he should be able to pull it off.

He pulled up the information on the brides. There were several companies who specialized in brides and they had every kind imaginable. It didn’t take a lot for him to backtrack on his computer to make it look like he had been looking for a bride for a month or so, and that would help with explaining her arrival.

The young woman slept in his bed at the moment. She looked so innocent there. He watched her, hoping everyone would believe the story he would have to weave.

The only thing he needed to do now was use his precious replicator to create what a bride would bring to her new home. He rarely used the machine because of the minerals needed to activate it. They weren’t the easiest items for him to get his hands on. So what he had, he used sparingly, normally for medical supplies he needed when it would take too long to order them.

Considering her ship burnt up on impact, all he needed to do was create an outfit he thought a new bride would wear to meet her husband-to-be for the first time. From everything he read, most would wear their wedding gown. Not very practical, but he did understand why, so he created a nice dress for her. Something she could wear now and still be pretty enough for people to think it was her wedding dress.

He brought it into his bedroom and placed it on her bed, hoping she’d put it on without any questions when she woke up. Glancing out the window, he saw one of the locals heading toward his home. Figured he would be the first one to show up after the crash.

He went on the defensive the moment his front door opened. Always worked on this man. “What do you want, Guapo?”

“I come to see you and that’s how I’m greeted? Shameful, doctor. I heard you have a new bride and wished to pay my respects.”

“That didn’t take long. Or was it the crash that brought you, and made you check to see what might have caused it?”