Star Raiders (20 page)

“I was older than most of them, twenty-four to their eighteen.” She cocked her head to study him. “What set you apart didn’t have a thing to do with age. Your appeal for me had to do with experience. Understanding.

Wisdom.”

At her careful perusal, he shifted in discomfort. “Wel , I was older. I don’t know about wiser.”

Rising moonlight washed the color from her skin and hair, leaving behind an alabaster statue, cold and remote. Despite the mild night air, a chil invaded his heart. He shuddered.

“Back then we were both young and terribly foolish.” She took a step toward him.

As the warmth radiating off her body flowed around him, the image of stone melted. She was no sculpture. Shyanne was a courageous, warm, vibrant woman.

A woman who deserved better than Greyson Dane.

She lifted her hand. Her fingers trailed fire across his cheek. “Can we find a way to forgive the people we were? To live in the here and now?” He had no right to take what she offered. And yet, though the stars might damn him to burn in a supernova, he couldn’t resist her plea. With a groan of surrender he reached out and folded her against his chest.

Without saying a word they moved into his room.

Shy knew the accord couldn’t last. Too much time and history, along with the lies, past and present, lay between them. She nonetheless went wil ingly, eagerly, into Greyson’s arms. For this brief moment in time he was hers. Someday he’d forgive himself for his betrayal of her and come to her without her asking, but for now she’d take what she could get.

His solid frame gave her something to cling to, a secure shelter from the storm she knew would soon rage around them. The heat of him pressed against her, melted the ice in her veins and sent her blood swirling through her body like liquid fire.

Aside from a tic in his jaw, he stood motionless as she leaned away and began to undress him. His shirt slid off his broad shoulders to reveal his muscled chest. A few scattered chest hairs tickled her cheek as she kissed her way across his col arbone, then dipped lower. His skin felt smooth and warm. She pressed her mouth to first one flat brown nipple, then the other, delighted as they hardened under her lips. She felt his breath hitch and his pulse race.

When she reached for the fastener of his trousers, he groaned and caught her hands in his. Trapped there, she felt the length of him pressing against her palm.

He pul ed away. She swal owed her moan of disappointment. With swift, efficient motions he stripped off the remainder of his clothing.

“My turn.”

At his promising grin she quivered in expectation. A cool night breeze caressed her skin as he peeled away her garments. She shivered. His arms came around her, blocking the evening chil , stoking her internal fire. Limbs entwined, together they sank to the bed. He bathed her body with kisses. With his mouth, teeth and tongue he kissed, nipped and laved his way from her throat to her knees, never staying in one spot long enough to grant her release from the tension spiraling out of control inside her.

She squirmed in dissatisfaction. She wanted more. Now! Impatient, she gripped his head in her hands and pul ed it to hers. Wild with need, she used her tongue to show him what she desired, thrusting it past his wil ing lips. He met it with his own, starting a duel where neither asked or gave any quarter.

She shifted her hips to grant him access, but when he final y entered her, he moved with excruciating slowness.

She glared up at him. “I didn’t know you were a tease.”

“What’s the rush? We have al night.”

The chuckle of satisfaction in his voice drove her over the edge. With a feral growl she wrapped her legs tight around his hips and surged upward. She only had a second to enjoy the startled look in his eyes before a climax claimed her.

Afterward, neither spoke or talked for a long time.

The smel of night-blooming flowers wafted through the open window, but it was Shyanne’s sweet scent that fil ed Greyson’s lungs. He never wanted to move. Limp with pleasure, he forced himself to shift his weight off her. At the loss of his warmth, she muttered a rude protest, then curled against his side.

Moonlight leeched her skin of color. A cool night wind swept over them. Goose bumps rose on her bare skin, and he ran his fingers along the bumpy texture, savoring being able to touch her.

“Sleepy?” he asked.

She nuzzled his chest. “I’m not tired. Are you?” To her laugh of amusement, his body answered the question.

Hours later, limbs entangled, the air fil ed with the smel of love, Greyson watched as Shyanne slid into blameless slumber. Sleep eluded him, however. With his passion drained, doubt and guilt resurfaced.

The twitter of birds outside the window woke him, and Greyson blinked against the bright morning light streaming in around the curtains. A sense of completion fil ed him. What had passed between Shyanne and him went beyond the physical. For the first time in years he felt at peace.

Though she hadn’t said a word about what had gone before, he knew the hurt and anger from that time was gone, for both of them. Secrets stil existed on both sides. He sensed that, like him, she held something back, hid some piece of the puzzle that would determine their future. But at that moment he felt confident they could find their way around whatever separated them. Once Dempster was captured and the threat of C.O.I.L. intervention eliminated, he and Shyanne would have time. Time to forgive. Time to live. Time to…He blocked his last thought from being born.

Stretching, he reached for her. His hand met nothing. She was gone, the sheets cold and empty. After what they’d shared, she left without a word?

Confidence faded, replaced by hard reality. She didn’t real y trust him. Nothing had changed. He groaned, admitting rueful y she
shouldn’t
trust him. Nothing he’d said or done in the night negated his lies, his deceit, his betrayal. Nothing was different than it had ever been.

A soft tap on the door kept him from descending into a bout of useless self-castigation. What was done was done. He couldn’t change it; he could only make sure the end justified the means. That his bargain with Shyanne was kept by success.

“Come in,” he cal ed, hoping it was her.

Matha poked her head through the opening. “Are you up?” She didn’t wait for an answer. Instead, she strode into the room carrying a tray. The rich smel s of coffee, bacon and eggs made him momentarily forget he was naked in Shyanne’s bed.

The woman tsked as she set the tray on the bedside table. “Though it’s near lunch already, I’ve brought you breakfast.”

Eager for a jolt of caffeine to wipe the fuzz from his brain, he sat up and reached for the steaming mug she proferred. The covers fel away, exposing him.

Matha’s frown sent a flood of heat into his cheeks.

He snatched back his hand and tugged the cover over his lap. “I’m s-sorry,” he stammered.

“No need to blush, young man.” But Matha’s tone was as cold as the air on his damp crotch. She handed him the mug. “You haven’t a thing I haven’t seen before.

Eat. When you’re finished, bring the tray to the kitchen. Then Shyanne said to meet her at the shuttle port.” She turned to leave.

“Matha.”

“Yes?” The woman paused at the door but didn’t turn back to face him. Though her tone was neutral, Greyson could read disapproval in the stiff set of her shoulders.

He wasn’t sure what to say. “I didn’t intend…”

Matha whirled around. “Intentions don’t mean squat, boy. It’s actions that count.” Her hands were planted on her plump hips, her eyes blazing with protective anger. “Tomas and I have raised that girl since she was four years old. She’s as much our daughter as she is Kedar’s. Hurt her, and there won’t be a corner of the galaxy where you can hide. She’s seen too much pain and suffering already.”

“I didn’t mean to end up in her bed. It just happened!”

“Bah.” She waved one hand in dismissal. “You think I care who she beds down with? I’m no prig. You’re young, healthy and attractive. Plus, you have”—she paused, some of her steam dissipating, then hurried on—“history together. I’d have been amazed if you hadn’t. But the hurt you can do her goes deeper.”

“I…care for Shyanne.” He couldn’t bring himself to say the word
love
. If and when he admitted to loving Shyanne, it wouldn’t be to a third party.

Matha studied him for a minute, then sighed. “Perhaps you do. But that doesn’t mean you can’t hurt her.” She shook her head and her tone softened. “Pay me no mind. What happens between you and Shyanne is between you. My loving her doesn’t give me the right to interfere in her choices. She’s long since grown, though at times I’m hard pressed to see it. Eat your breakfast before it gets cold.” Appetite gone, Greyson ate and dressed quickly. The need to see Shyanne grew with each beat of his heart.

Chapter Fourteen

Dempster strode onto the bridge of his newest ship, the
Vanquish
. He was tired of constantly switching from one ship to another to elude ELF patrols. Now that he had a class-one Regulan battle cruiser, he could stand against anything ELF sent after him. Pride of ownership swel ed inside him. She’d cost him a fortune but was wel worth the expense. Top of the line, sleek and modern, fast and powerful, wel armed and dangerous. His confidence soared. Nothing in space could match her—

and therefore nothing could match him.

His crew acknowledged his presence with averted gazes and tightened jaw muscles. He knew each treacherous man who served him aboard the
Vanquish
, and al of them hated him. At the slightest hint of weakness they’d turn and tear out his throat like the two-legged dogs they were. But for now they feared him more than they hated him, and so long as he fil ed their pockets with credits he would keep their loyalty.

It rankled that he had to employ scum. And though meting out swift punishment to those who failed to obey and please provided him with pleasure, it took time and effort he could il afford. Stewart Kedar’s men had fol owed him out of respect and even love. Stil , Simon had been one of those and what had it gained either of them? Better to control through fear and intimidation. He’d learned through hard lessons love was a useless, profitless emotion.

Near his command chair, he paused. A dark, oily odor invaded his lungs and his nose wrinkled in distaste. Though he’d had the air purged and replaced days ago, the stench of the fish lingered, smel ing of terror and feces. A dark spot where the fish had soiled himself and the floor caught his eye. Damn the creature! If he weren’t already a dry husk, Dempster would take great delight in gutting the fish-man again. The carpeting would have to be replaced.

“We’re approaching radar range,” said Gerhan, his second-in-command.

Dempster studied the screen. Through the glare of the three-star system, he could discern nothing. “There’s a planet in there?”

“Don’t know. We’d have to get within scanning range to be sure. But our tracking beacon is definitely broadcasting from orbit around something, and I don’t think it’s one of the suns.”

“Clever little bitch. She’s found a nice little hideyhole, hasn’t she?”

“Yes. Flying through the suns’ solar fields and finding the planet wil be tricky and risky.”

“But not impossible for the
Vanquish
.”

“No. She can handle the fields and we have the equipment to pinpoint the planet quickly once we’re in range. But the minute we enter the system we’l be spotted.”

“By then it’l be too late.”

“I’m not sure this is a wise plan, sir.
Independence
may be old, but she’s wel built and wel armed. And Shyanne Kedar is a crafty, capable captain. Is capturing one woman worth the possible cost?”

Gerhan’s prissy warnings and fears enraged Dempster. Nothing and no one was keeping him from his goal. He’d worked too hard. Waited too long. Given up too much to hesitate now that he was so close.

The violence that was ever a breath from the surface of his personality now erupted. Without warning, he backhanded the man out of his chair. Before Gerhan could react, Dempster pointed his laser pistol at the man’s head. “Are you questioning my command? Are any of you?” He glared around the bridge.

Blood dripped from Gerhan’s split lip, adding another stain on the carpet. Eyes wisely averted, he wiped his mouth with his sleeve. “No,” he said.

“Then get back to work. Signal me when we have a lock on
Independence
.” As Gerhan crawled back into his seat, Dempster holstered his pistol and strode off the bridge; the smel had grown too thick to tolerate. As he passed, none of the other crewmen met his gaze. He used fear, pain and intimidation to control these stupid but useful dogs. He only wished the same had worked on Shyanne Kedar.

He hadn’t had her in his possession for long enough, he reminded himself. But he would get another chance. Over the years he’d honed and refined his appetite for pain, learned to appreciate the pleasure of inflicting it on others. Anticipation of having her again thrummed like a drug through his veins, anticipation of the things he would do to her.

This time, there’d be no escape for her.

Wary gazes fol owed Greyson through town. He knew without Shyanne’s protection these people would give him no leniency. Heck, if they knew he was an ASP agent, even she might not be able to save him. Though life on Uta appeared peaceful, its existence had been born of desperate need, and its survival remained fraught with peril. If these people believed him a threat, they’d do what they must to protect their homes and families.

When the last building and person disappeared from view, he let out a sigh of relief. Sunshine warmed his skin and eased the tension from his muscles.

A few miles out of town he reached the shuttle port. Surrounded by older, battered, space-weary crafts, his own ship’s sleek lines and smooth silver skin gleamed in the midday sun, a precious jewel among corroded rocks. The smel s of fuel and sun-warmed tarmac mingled with the scent of cut hay from a distant field and the tinge of salt wafting on the sea breeze.