Authors: Nina Croft
Her hand went still against him. "Don't stop," he muttered.
When she didn't respond, he opened his eyes. Mel was staring at something over his shoulder. He twisted his head and swore softly. Leila stood in the open doorway, her blue eyes wide with shock. He wilted. "Shit."
Mel took a step back from him obviously not realizing she still had hold of his cock. She looked down in surprise and released him.
Zach groaned. "You couldn't just order her to go, could you? You are the captain, after all."
Mel didn't answer, just shook her head, and took another step back. She started to fasten her shirt with trembling fingers.
Zach glanced back at Leila; it didn't look as though she was going anywhere. He didn't know what she was doing here, but he had a bad feeling. Oh, well, he had known all along, his plan was flawed.
Leila moved further into the room, and all his senses went onto immediate alert. He didn't know what it was about her, but she made his skin crawl. He remembered Mel saying that she had made the customers in the brothel uncomfortable. He could well believe it; he just didn't know why.
She was still staring at him; the shock was gone to be replaced by an almost cold, feral hatred.
And she was armed.
He glanced around for his pants; if this went bad, he wanted to have his pants on. They were lying crumpled on the floor a few feet away. Keeping a wary eye on both women, he sidled across, picked them up, and pulled them on.
Mel cleared her throat. "What are you doing here, Leila?"
Leila's fierce gaze left him at last. "I got to thinking, after you left."
"Yeah?"
"He" —she jerked a finger in Zach's direction— "was accused of massacring a camp on Talmare."
"So?"
"A camp like I grew up in."
Zach had been watching Mel, now his gaze swung around to Leila. What was she saying? That she came from Talmare? That she was brought up in one of the camps? The bad feeling was getting worse.
"He couldn't have been responsible for that, Leila. He wasn't even on Talmare at the time."
"Maybe not, but someone like him was."
"I'm not sure he even did it," Mel said. "I think he might have been set up."
Zach couldn't believe how good those words made him feel. She believed him, believed his story.
Leila's gaze flicked from Mel to him. His expression seemed to enrage her. Her eyes narrowed, then she closed them for a brief moment. When she opened them, she was smiling. It wasn't a pleasant smile, and it didn't make him feel any better at all.
"You know," she said to Mel, "he thinks he's got you right where he wants you."
Mel's eyes widened. "What?"
"Ask him about his plan, why don't you?"
Mel turned to face Zach. Her eyes had gone cold. "What plan?"
Zach frowned. He wasn't sure what was going on here, but all he could do was brazen it out. Leila couldn't really know about the plan. But what worried him was Mel appeared to be listening to her. He shrugged. "I have no plan."
"He's lying. Though I have to admit, it is a pretty crappy plan. I wouldn't own up to it."
"Come on, Leila," Mel said. "Spit it out."
"Oh, it's quite simple really. He's going to seduce you. And once he's had you, he reckons you'll be eating out of his hands. His words, not mine. He reckons a little bit of sex—and you're obviously desperate for it by the way—and you'll do anything he wants."
"And what exactly is it he wants?" Mel's voice was empty of all expression.
Leila closed her eyes once more. When she opened them, she was smiling again. "Well, at the moment, to strangle me." She flashed a grin at Zach. "Don't worry, I get that a lot. But from you, he wants your ship."
"My ship," Zach growled automatically.
His head was whirling. How could she know all this, but even through his rising panic, it was coming together. She'd been born on Talmare, in one of Pieter's breeding camps. "Jesus," he said. "She's a telepath."
"Quick, isn't he?" Leila responded.
Zach frantically tried to get things straight in his head. The liner, ten years ago, had she been responsible for the crash? He stared at her. How could someone so small and delicate bring down a whole space liner? As the thought settled in his mind, Leila's eyes widened in shock.
"Well?" Mel broke into his thoughts, and he turned reluctantly from Leila. Mel was staring at him coldly, her mouth a grim line.
"Well what?"
"Is it true?"
"Is what true?" he asked, trying to keep his tone innocent.
"Do you believe you only have to fuck me, and I'll do anything you want?"
"Of course not."
Beside him, Leila snorted in disbelief.
Mel shook her head but didn't say anything further. Zach knew she didn't believe him, which wasn't surprising, but he was amazed by how bad that made him feel. He held himself tense, waiting for her to press that button and the paralysis to set in. But she didn't, she just swung around, slammed her palm to the door panel, and stalked out of the room.
Leila smirked and followed her. The door slid shut behind them.
"Shit," Zach muttered.
He was a dead man.
It occurred to Mel, as she waited for Sanderson that she was just about to make the biggest mistake of her entire life. And it was way too late to do anything about it.
She had picked the rendezvous point carefully. They were on one of the moons orbiting Talmare—a bare, barren place, but with a gravity and atmosphere similar to Earth, which meant they didn't have to be inside and weren't hampered by breathing equipment. The meeting place was a circular clearing formed by towering ochre rocks that at least provided some cover while they waited.
Leila stood beside her. Zach was behind them, his eyes boring holes into her back. She'd avoided thinking about him for the past two days. She'd walked away from him not furious, as she'd expected, but hurt. And she really hated that.
The thing was she couldn't blame him. His life was at stake and much more than that if what he had told her was true. And she suspected it was. She would have done the same, used anything and anyone at hand to help her get away.
Still, she hadn't been able to face him, and she'd handed his care over to Leila. Then she'd spoilt the gesture by ordering Darla to keep an eye on them. Just in case Leila was tempted to try out her new poison.
She wouldn't put it past her; Leila was a genuine man-hater. But then, the time in the space brothel had been hard for Leila, much harder than for Mel.
Mel had been considered a risk; consequently, she'd spent most of her three years there in a drug induced haze. But Leila had been fifteen, small, not viewed as a threat, which just went to show how misleading appearances could be. But it had meant there were no comforting drugs to soften the reality for her.
Not that Mel didn't hate most men. From what she had seen of the world, the majority of them deserved to die screaming. But she wasn't particular; she also hated plenty of women as well. After all, it was because of a woman that she had ended up in the brothel in the first place.
Though, thinking about it, if it hadn't been for that particular woman she supposed she wouldn't have existed at all.
Beside her, Leila shifted restlessly. "Mel?"
Mel glanced at her. "Yes?"
"He didn't do the massacre on Talmare."
"What?"
"Tiger, he didn't do it. I read him."
Mel frowned. "And you waited until now to tell me?"
Leila nodded. "And Mel..."
"What?"
"He likes you."
A jolt of shock hit her hard. "I don't believe you."
"It's true. Oh, I wasn't lying about the plan, but it wasn't the only reason. He wanted you. He likes you."
Mel gritted her teeth and turned to face Leila. "Why are you telling me this?"
"Because you're not happy. You're my friend, and you're all that kept me sane. Well, sanish," she acknowledged, with a slight smile. "And however much I'd like to see him die, I know you'll never forgive yourself if you go ahead with this, and he dies because of you."
"But why leave it this late? Sanderson will be here soon. I try to stop this now and chances are we all die."
The smile left Leila's face. "I wanted to meet Sanderson, and this was the only way I could think of. I need to know if he's responsible. I need to find out if Darren is still alive."
Mel shook her head. In some strange way, she could understand Leila's reasoning, but she'd risked all their lives. She glanced around to where Zach stood in the shadows behind them, and suddenly she knew whatever the risk, there was no way she was handing him over to Sanderson.
"How long have we got before Sanderson gets here?" she asked.
"Minutes," Leila replied.
She thought for a moment. "Call Darla, make sure the ship is ready to go, and send Angie and Grace down here, tell them to hang back but be ready for trouble."
"Already done. They're somewhere behind us."
Mel walked toward Zach. She'd told Leila to make sure he didn't give her any earache. Leila had taken her literally, and he wore a metal gag. Above it, his eyes were expressionless. She reached behind him and clicked open the gag, removed it from his mouth. He twisted away and spat.
"Turn around," she said.
He turned and she unlocked the clip that held the cuffs fastened together, but left them in place. When she looked back, his expression was puzzled but not quite trusting.
"Why?" he asked.
"We're getting out of here."
"I take it you have a plan."
"We're going to tell Sanderson we've changed our minds. That we'll return his deposit—when we have it—and we all go home."
He gave her a look. "Good joke. Now tell me the plan."
Mel scowled. "Okay, there is no plan. This is sort of spur of the moment stuff."
"Great, just great," he said. "God preserve me from working with women."
"Don't be so negative. You never know—Sanderson might be reasonable."
"No, he won't. He'll kill you both, and he'll torture me. Then he'll kill me as well. We're all going to die."
"Oh shut up. I need to think."