Reagan Hawk (4 page)

“
You’re strong,” she whispered.

He knew he should pull away but he couldn
’t. The sounds and smells of sex charged the arena and Raider had spent too long wanting her to walk away. “I am.”

She bit at her lower lip more.

He lowered his head, curious if she’d kiss him. He could take what he wanted from her but he wouldn’t dare. If she didn’t want him, then he’d let it be.

She closed her eye
s and tilted her head, her lips puckering. Raider hid his smile as he pressed his lips to hers. She gasped and he feathered his tongue along her lower lip. Her tongue greeted his. They joined and Raider wrapped his arms around Lucia, holding her to him as he explored her mouth.

Her nipples hardened against his chest and he growled, tearing his mouth from hers. He lowered his head, ashamed for taking what he wanted when he
’d sworn he wouldn’t. “Go. Return to the dominus.”

“
No,” she said, her voice soft yet stern all at the same time. “Not yet. Please.”

He met her gaze and saw the raw desperation there.

“Soon enough he’ll be all I know and I don’t want that. I don’t want the only real touch from a man to be from him. I hate him.”

“
If he heard you speak in such a way, he would have your tongue,” he warned.

She nodded.

Raider knew it was foolish to go on. He knew he should escort her right back to Ahenobarbus’s side, focus on the task at hand—the gold and riches—and think no more upon Lucia. Yet he couldn’t seem to pull himself away from her.

He looked to the young couple, still locked together, grunting, growling, drawing pleasure from one another. His cock ached for Lucia.

He ached for her.

Lucia moved her hand to his. She lifted it and placed it upon her
left breast. “You watch me and you want me. I know as much.”

He said nothing, his thumb caressing her erect nipple through the material of her stola.

“Let me taste real pleasure, real passion just once in my life. Please, Raider.” She lifted her chin. “Dominus and Fannu are no doubt busy with one another, watching the shows, fucking for all to see. They will not notice my absence.”

“
He will notice when he goes to take you to his bed and you are no longer pure,” Raider said. He hated the idea that damn
son-of-a-stella-remain
would touch her at all. She was too good for Ahenobarbus. Hell, she was too good for Raider. He knew as much. It didn’t stop him from wanting her with every fiber of his being. He stood, anger bristling up his spine at the notion the dominus would in any way know carnal pleasures with Lucia. Raider felt like Ewan—ready to strike.

Ewan.

The anger rushed out of him. Ewan’s dream of finding a woman to share would have to end. Lucia would never agree to such a thing. And Raider would not ask it of her.

She shrugged. “
I would rather die than be his. At least I will have known passion once before I go.”

He wouldn
’t let anything happen to her.

Dammit.

The job was supposed to be easy. Get in, learn everything he could, steal Ahenobarbus blind. Lucia was a complication. One he didn’t need but one he wanted desperately. She had taken the place of his lust for gold and revenge against corrupt persons of power. She was what he wanted more than anything.

She took his other hand and put it over her ri
ght breast. “Use me, Raider. Use me as a man uses a woman. Show me passion. I ask nothing more from you.”

“
You ask too much,” he stated. Should he dare defile her, he would have to take her with him. It was that or leave her to die, something he couldn’t do. Truth be told, he knew deep down that he had no intention of leaving her on Emprom. From the moment he’d laid eyes upon her, he’d begun scheming in his head on ways to flee with her. Dreaming up elaborate ways he’d steal her out from under Ahenobarbus’s nose. Why had it taken him so long to fully admit to himself that she was more important than riches?

Because you love her and the idea of love was foreign to you.

“I will never tell Dominus it was you I gave myself to. You have my word.” She ran her hand over his chest. “The shows and games will not last forever. Decide.”

He yanked her to him, his lips crashing down upon hers. Her body was subtle against him, as if she had already totally surrendered to him. He broke the kiss only long enough to take her
by the hand and lead her to a less public position. Tucked under a walkway, he returned to her mouth, to kissing her, to tasting her.

She tasted divine.

Lucia could hardly believe it was finally happening. She was with a man she’d longed for. A man who was not a slob and who was not cruel and evil. Raider’s kisses nearly drowned her with desire. Her pussy wept for attention. She moaned into his mouth, her hands moving over him, touching him anywhere she could. She moved aside his tunic enough to come skin to skin with his cock. She had held one before, while in training before being purchased by Ahenobarbus. The cock she had learned to pleasure with her mouth and her touch had been nowhere near as hard, thick and long as Raider’s.

Moisture continued to pool at the apex of her thighs. She wanted this man more than life itself. She wanted to know passion and desire, and he embodied it. His kisses came faster as she pumped the length of him in her hand.

His fingers found their way beneath her tunic as well and between her thighs. He rubbed her clit and she nearly lost all sense of herself at the simple touch of his hand. He yanked at her tunic top with his other hand, freeing one of her breasts. Breaking the kiss, he growled before dipping his head, his lips moving over her nipple. At the same moment he dipped a finger into her, breaking her virginal barrier. There was fleeting pain followed quickly by the pleasure of his caresses.

She rocked on his hand, wanting more.

He licked her breast. “You are so tight, Lucia.”

He added another finger and she gasped, stilling slightly, waiting for her body to become accustomed to having so much within her. Raider freed her other breast and began his sweet assault upon it.

“So beautiful,” he whispered between alternating sucks upon her nipples.

She continued to stroke his cock and he caught her wrist, his gaze meeting hers. “
I have already taken too much. Already signed our death warrants.”

She looked deep into his eyes, desp
erate for him to continue. He couldn’t stop now.

He didn
’t.

He lifted her as if she weighed nothing, and her legs went around his waist as if they had done this before. He moved material out of the way and then she felt his cock head probing her wet entran
ce. Raider’s mouth captured hers as he thrust into her, spearing her body completely. She moaned into his mouth. She was one with him and it felt glorious.

***

Raider pumped into Lucia. Her tight cunt pulled at his cock, attempting to keep him locked deep inside her. Her full breasts were crushed against his chest as he took her like a rutting bull. He couldn’t stop himself. He’d watched and wanted her for two months and finally had her. She felt even better than he’d imagined. Tight. Wet. Fitting snugly around his cock as if she was made to receive him.

Her hands cupped the sides of his face as they kissed. He didn
’t want the moment to end but knew each thrust, each time he rammed into her, he risked being caught. Already if the secret ever came to light that she was no longer untouched, she would be killed. If caught in the act of sex itself, they would both be dead.

Desperation and fear for her guided his actions as he drove deeper into her, grunting, taking pleasure from her giving body. She shattered i
n his arms, her pussy convulsing around his cock as she came. Raider broke the kiss and roared as his balls tightened and his seed erupted from him, filling her.

Fool. You take her maidenhead and fill her womb with your seed.

He had never spilled inside a female before. He’d never wanted to. The idea of begetting children on any of the women he’d fucked did nothing for him. Yet all he wanted to do was lay Lucia out upon the ground and fuck her again so he could come inside her once more.

Always.

Forever.

Sh
e was his.

She could not return to Ahenobarbus. Ever. She would come with him. He would sneak away long enough to summon his men and his ship, and then he would take Lucia and leave Emprom for good. The crew would have to understand that her life meant mor
e to him than riches.

He withdrew from her, his cock dripping with their combined juices. He put his forehead to hers. “
Lucia, you must take your seat once more.”

She stiffened and then lowered her gaze, nodding. “
Yes, sir.”

“
No.” He caught her chin. “Not for good. For now. I must see to things. I must make arrangements and then we shall leave—together.”

Confusion lit her gaze. She shook her head as she began tucking her breasts into the tunic once more. “
We cannot. They will kill you.”

“
If I permit you to return to Ahenobarbus, within three months you will be dead. Perhaps sooner if my babe takes root within you.”

She glanced away. “
Go. Leave now and you will be safe. I will deal with what will come. I choose death over him.”

He held tighter to her face. “
Woman, are you senseless? I will not permit you to remain and die.”

“
Why? You do not know me.”

He kissed her tenderly. “
Lucia, my cock was just buried inside you. My lips were just on your nipples and soon enough they will be on your cunt. Do not tell me I do not know you. I have known you for two months. I realize now I have loved you for nearly all of that time.”

She gasped. “
Loved me?”

She had been raised in a way of life that did not include love. He understood as much. He would change that. “
I will return you to Fannu’s side. Wait for my signal and then excuse yourself again. We will flee then.”

“
Raider, no.”

He gave her a stern look. “
You will obey.”

She nodded.

As they entered the arena once more, it was to chaos. People rushed through the corridors, slamming into one another. He watched as two men were crushed from the stampede of people. He thrust Lucia against the wall, protecting her with his body. She screamed and he held her there, allowing no harm to come to her.

Once there was a break
in the mass exodus, he pulled Lucia to him and began moving with her. When he spotted a Yanusion mercenary, Raider understood what was happening. The rich at the arena were in the process of being robbed and possibly killed. The Yanusions were a dangerous species that had gained star travel far later than most, but they’d taken full advantage of it. Three charged directly at him, their sights on Lucia. She may have been a slave, but at first glance she looked to be a lady. A lady they no doubt believed would either fetch gold coin for ransom or service their needs in the bedroom.

Rage tore through him at the idea of harm coming to Lucia. He withdrew his sword and twisted around, striking one of the three down instantly. He took on the other two and made sho
rt work of them.

Lucia cupped her mouth and leapt back as blood splattered everywhere. She bent before one of the Yanusions and grabbed his discarded weapon. She lifted it, leaning, as it far too heavy for her. Raider thought for a moment she sought to str
ike him. He heard the swoosh of a sword behind him just as Lucia somehow managed to send the sword she held flying. It turned, end over end, and whizzed past Raider, driving deep into the newest mercenary’s chest. Raider blinked in surprise.

He reached for
her. “Come, quickly. It’s not safe here.”

“
The dominus?”

“
Can go fuck himself,” he said, no longer concerned with liberating the gold from the Ahenobarbus vaults.

Lucia shrank back from him. “
I have nowhere to go.”

“
You do,” he said, winking. “Trust me.”

She placed her hand in his and allowed him to lead her through the crowd and over dead bodies. They hurried from the arena and found themselves out front, gladiators and slaves all around them. The guards tried to bring about order but there looked to be
none to be had.

Several of the gladiators glanced in Raider
’s direction and he had a pretty good idea what was running through their heads—an opportunity to kill a guard and blame it on mercenaries. He was ready for a fight.

Lucia threw her arms up, and whe
n she spoke, it was in native Emprom. Whatever she said worked, the gladiators stood down, allowing passage. Raider hurried Lucia away and didn’t stop until they were far enough from the arena to ensure they’d not been followed.