Passionate Desire (4 page)

“You wound me.” He grabbed at his side where his heart was. “I worried something could have happened.”

“Right. Go home, Guapo.” He moved about his small office, trying to look like he didn’t care what the man thought. “I’ll bring her around when she is ready.”

“No quick peek?”

The young woman walked into the room at that moment, wearing the dress he had left for her. Why did she have to come out right while the most untrustworthy man on the planet happened to be in the building?

“Thank you.” She noticed their guest and stopped. She stepped close to Kuarto, as if she was looking for protection from him. At least she knew better than to talk.

“Guapo, my bride.” Not being able to explain anything to her, he prayed she wouldn’t question him in front of this little sleaze bag. It wouldn’t go well if she did. Thankfully she gave him an odd look but kept quiet during the introductions.

“She is very pretty. You are a lucky man.” He studied her, something that made Kuarto uncomfortable. “Tonight, I will come back, and we can celebrate.”

He didn’t think it was a good idea, but wasn’t sure if the man understood the word no. The moment the man left, Kuarto focused on her. “You shouldn’t have come out.”

“How was I to know you were going to have a guest?” Hurt filled her eyes.

“We need to get our story straight before he comes back.” He ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. He hadn’t meant to hurt her feelings but had no clue how to fix it. “I have bought you. You’re my mail-order bride.”

“Okay.” She looked at him with such innocence.

At least she wasn’t going to fight him on this. “You need to be quiet as much as possible when he is here. He’s not one I trust.”

“Then why do you deal with him?” She looked out the window to watch the man retreat.

“Sometimes you have to deal with the worst to survive.” He looked at her. “You know, we need to come up with a name for you. ‘I don’t know’ doesn’t roll off the tongue.”

“What do you suggest?” She played with a piece of gold around her neck.

“What is that?”

“The necklace? I’m not sure. I noticed it when I changed.”

“Maybe it says something we can use.” He stepped up to her and took a hold of the gold disk. It was warm from her skin. It practically burned him. “To Toki, sister, friend, Heather and Storm.”

“Toki? Sounds like a nickname.”

“It does, but it’s Vespian, which you are too. I’m not sure how many people will recognize that but I don’t want to take a chance with something non-Vespian.” He didn’t have the heart to tell her it meant pain. “I don’t think it would be smart to give you a human name when you’re not human.”

“Then Toki it is.” She looked up at him while he continued to hold the medallion. “I wanted to thank you for the dress.”

“Oh, you’re welcome.” He backed off, not real sure why he had stayed that close to her for as long as he did. “Thought it would look better if you dressed the part of a mail-order bride. What did you do with your other clothes?”

“Left it on the bed.”

“It might be smart to put that away. Don’t want people asking too many questions because they happen to see it.” He walked into his bedroom. The uniform lay neatly on his bed. Kuarto picked up the outfit, folded it and put it into the wooden trunk he had at the foot of the bed. The covers disheveled look reminded him what cause it. He had a woman in his bed. Too bad he hadn’t joined her. He sure wanted to.

A slight sound behind him made him look around and he found her inches away. Being attracted to Toki was going to be a problem. He needed to be professional. “Okay, this is what we will tell people. You came here as my bride. The ship you came in fell apart as you entered our atmosphere and blew up after you were able to exit it. All your worldly possessions were destroyed in the explosion.”

“Which is what happened,” she commented.

The confines of the small room weren’t helping him at all. He picked up a whiff of something before realizing it was her. That unique scent all women had. He needed to get out of the room before he did something stupid like kiss her, so he headed back into the main room of his simple home. She followed right behind him.

“It’s also believable because people will think the ship was probably old and shouldn’t have made the flight in the first place.” He gestured to a chair. “You did get banged about a bit and I’d like to examine you.” He pulled out a pocket sized scanner. “I’m a doctor, although on this planet I’ve been known to take care of just about anything that moves. My supplies might not be able to bring your memory back, but I’d like to try.”

She looked at the scanner before looking back at him. “It would be nice to remember again.”

He nodded, and led her to the far right wall of his home, where he had all his medical supplies. He had already treated her other injuries when he first brought her to the house. The suit had protected much of her body, the gash on her head was about the only thing he could address. Kuarto would love to know how she got the nasty cut then was still able to seal her suit properly before she lost her memories.

He checked the wound, happy with the way it was healing. In an hour or two it would be completely gone. The amnesia was a different story. After running a series of tests, he found it temporary but everything he tried to reverse the problem didn’t work.

“Well, I have good news and bad news. Everything looks good, but the memory loss is going to last a bit longer. I’ll keep working on it, but I’m not sure how quickly I can fix your problem.”

“So what does that mean?”

“You’re going to be my guest a little longer.”

****

Storm went through a few more last minute checks before he was satisfied. “My heart, you really should sit while I do this.”

“I’m fine.” She checked the supplies she had asked for.

“Maybe so, but you are in the way.” He swiveled his chair so he could check final flight information. “If you want to get airborne, you need to move out of the way.”

She wanted to stick her tongue out at him, but continued her own work instead. She had spoken to the doctor, and gotten a medical bag to carry, just in case she needed it. The doctor had given her most of the things she needed to help Toki if she was injured, and the training to use the equipment as well.

Heather had done her research and found that the undeveloped planet where Toki was last seen was very leery of anyone just showing up. They might be able to cloak one of the smaller ships, but not a large medical one. So Storm went along with them having a ship of their own. The larger medical ship would have to hang back as they went to the planet.

“It should take us about a day to get there.” He snagged one arm and pulled her into his lap. “You have everything ready?”

“Like what?” She tried to look innocent.

He nuzzled her neck. “A certain something you promised me. It’s the only reason you’re coming along.”

“You telling me that you have no use for me other than sex?” Her voice was soft, slightly seductive, and very serious.

“Of course not.” He pulled back to look her in the eyes. “But you used sex to come with me. You could have used so many angles to make me bring you and you know I would have gone along with it.”

“True, but you know what I am capable of. You gave me a unilateral ‘it’s too dangerous’ and you know how much I hate that.” Her eyes grew wide as she realized how she had been manipulated. “You’re evil.”

“What are you talking about?” He played with the seam of her uniform.

“You did that on purpose because you knew I would come up with the one thing you always want to make you bring me along with you.”

“You’re my mate, wouldn’t pleasing me be part of what you want to do anyway?” He smiled at her. It was the one he normally gave her when he thought he had the upper hand.

She had no answer, but knew she would get her revenge. He liked to play games and she had gotten very good at winning these little matches. “Whatever you say.”

He didn’t like the way she gave in. It always meant trouble.

Chapter 2

Guapo arrived right after they ate. Kuarto had barely put the plates into the sink and the man was at their door. He would swear the man had his house bugged if he didn’t constantly sweep for things like that. Guapo brought a potent alcohol that was popular among the local natives and something Kuarto had avoided as much as he could. Guess tonight he’d have to see how well he could with stand the effects he had heard the alcohol caused.

Guapo poured the three of them a drink and lifted his cup in a toast. “To you and your bride, Doc.”

“Thanks.” He lifted his glass as well, but didn’t drink. He was still going to avoid it as much as he could. Kuarto wanted his wits with him with this man around. Especially with the way Toki was downing the contents in one gulp. She had no clue what she was doing. “Sweetheart, you might want to take your time on that.”

“I’ll be fine.” She smiled as she took the refill and drank it the same way. At the rate she was inhaling the alcohol, she wouldn’t be worth a thing when he needed her to keep her wits about her. “That stuff is kind of potent.”

“It’s okay, really.”

He shook his head, hoping Guapo would leave before she said or did something she shouldn’t. He wondered why he was there in the first place. There was no way he was there to help them celebrate their union.

“Doc, there is a friend of mine coming for a visit who wants to meet with you tomorrow. Can I bring him here?”

“What does he want?” Guapo always had an agenda. The man he spoke of was probably not of the best caliber, if he worked with Guapo. He always seemed to know the seedier side of the galaxy, and had tried to get Kuarto involved several times.

“Not sure.” He picked up his drink with a smile as he watched Toki continue to down her drinks. “He has something he thinks you might be interested in, and wants to show it to you.”

“I guess.” He became suspicious immediately. How did this guy know he would be interested in anything? What did he know? This was when he would normally run. He had done it before, and if it wasn’t for his guest he’d do it again. Now, he felt trapped.

He had to go along for the time being, but he wasn’t happy about it. Kuarto also wasn’t sure if he wanted this man to come to his home, but since Guapo had already set up everything, the man probably already knew where he was, so moving the meeting to another location would just raise questions.

“Good. I’ll bring him first thing.” Guapo kept looking at a time piece, making Kuarto suspicious.

Kuarto pulled his scanner out of his pocket and scanned his drink. He didn’t see anything out of the ordinary other than watered down alcohol.

“What’s the matter, Doc?” Guapo suddenly looked nervous.

“I know you too well. I can see you watered down the drinks.” He watched the slimy little man for a second before he ran his scanner over Toki’s drink as well. It was heavily laced with some sort of chemical. Kuarto glared at him as he picked up her cup and dashed the rest of the contents out the window he sat next to. “What did you do?”

“I thought she might need some relaxation, you know, so this evening would go well.” He tried to look innocent, but Kuarto would have none of it.

“You were hoping to get her so aroused she’d take you on as well you mean.” He stood, his seven foot eight frame towering over Guapo’s seated six foot one. Kuarto put his face inches from his so Guapo could see how angry he was. “Get out now, while I still let you walk.”

“Hey, meant no disrespect, Doc.” He hadn’t moved so Kuarto grabbed him by the neckline of his tunic and hauled him to his feet. “I can still bring my friend by tomorrow, right?”

“Honestly? I don’t want to see your face for a few days so you work that one out on your own.” He dragged him to the door. “Out.”

“But–”

“Now!”

The man slinked off into the night.

He turned back to his guest. Her eyes were taking on a definite glassy look. The drug must have taken effect.

“What was in that?” She gave him a goofy grin. “Sure has a relaxing effect on me.”

“You’ve been given an aphrodisiac.” He wondered how long it would take her to pass out on him.

“Really?” She stretched. “They normally don’t affect me.”

His brow creased. Was her memory suddenly coming back? “How would you know?”

“It’s always been that way.” She paused as she realized what she said. “I remember that.”

“What else do you remember?” He stepped up to her. Her eyes had cleared a bit.

“I know my name isn’t Toki although a lot of people call me that.”

“So what is your name?” He found standing so close to her just made him aware of how good she smelled. He knew she didn’t wear any sort of fragrance, but there was something about her essence that made him want to stay close.

“I don’t remember.” She reached out and ran her fingers through his hair. “Your hair is beautiful. A deep brown I’ve never seen before. It’s not as black as mine but I like that.”

“Um, let’s get back to what you do remember.” The physical contact was intimate and had him wanting her too easily. He needed to move away from her, but for some reason he couldn’t get his feet to listen to him.

“Sure.” Her hands touched his face then slid down his neck to the top of his collar.

“You mentioned you knew the aphrodisiac wouldn’t work on you?” He had to clear his voice to keep it from cracking. Her wandering hands made his whole body catch on fire. “Why?”

She found the seam of his shirt and opened it. Her fingers slid against his skin, the soft tips leaving a trail of arousal wherever they touched. “Not sure. A snippet of a memory from when I broke my arm. They tried to give me something for the pain but it didn’t work.”

Her medical scan did show a childhood break on her left arm, and as much as he wanted to grasp that and use it to steer them to safer ground, he couldn’t seem to do anything but pray she touched him some more.

Her lips followed the trail her fingers had made. He felt it deep inside, making him painfully hard. It had been too long since he had been with anyone. What was he thinking? No matter what she said about drugs not affecting her, he saw how much she ingested and knew it had to be causing this. But the moment she peeled her dress off and stood in front of him naked he lost all willpower.