It was strange, odd. A burning pressure, but not too painful. He worked his finger faster, fucking her until her hips rolled desperately. Then he retreated. Derek reached for the single drawer that protruded from the wall and found the oil. He rolled the bottle between his hands, warming the golden fluid. Then he opened the top and drizzled the liquid between her spread legs. She whimpered, one hand going between her legs and massaging her throbbing clit.
Don’t come, he warned. Not until I’m inside you.
“Derek!” she protested, near mad with lust. Two of his fingers were fucking her tight hole, stretching and yet pleasing. It was almost painful, but she was shielded by his calling, wrapped in his love. Three fingers. Burning, more stretching. But she was wet, so wet that her fingers pumping into her pussy were drenched and her hips started 93
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a gentle tempo in time with his thrusts. He bent over her, his mouth capturing a stiff nipple and suckling. His erection was rock-hard and stabbing into the back of her thigh, weeping rivulets of pre-come.
Now? he asked, concerned and yet so eager she could feel it.
Yes, now. She wanted him so badly, wanted to feel him inside her.
He stepped back, just enough distance to position the thick length of his cock at her tight, well-oiled rosette. His slick hand worked his cock, lubricating it. The sight of his masturbating almost made her come and she bit hard into her lower lip to prevent it.
She was desperate for him, so aroused she could barely breathe.
Hurry.
Soon, baby.
Now!
And then he was there, huge and so hard, pressing for entry. Pressing until the tight hole flowered for him and the thick head of his cock popped through the tight ring.
Sable gasped and writhed as he entered. So slowly. Pain grew and spread. She turned her head into the pillow and whimpered,
I can feel it, he thought. Relax, baby.
Clenching her sheets, she forced herself to relax.
Derek paused, his breathing harsh, his palms damp where he held her thighs open.
Do you want me to stop?
No, she moaned, feeling his cock against her fingers through the thin membrane that separated them.
Let me in, Sable. I can take the pain away if you let me in.
The warm blanket of his call wrapped even tighter around her and she felt nothing but the heated length of him, tunneling deep with infinite care.
Mine.
Yes.
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Forever.
And Sable said nothing, could say nothing. She wanted to shield her thoughts, but Derek had taken over, controlling her mind as he controlled her body, sliding home balls-deep in the depths of her ass. Pleasure poured from his consciousness into hers.
The muscles of his stomach were clenched tightly as he began to thrust, gently at first to allow her to accommodate him, and then faster.
Hot, so tight and sweet, he groaned, sweat dripping from his forehead onto her belly.
I love you. I love you so much.
Spread wide, she was pinned beneath him, his cock stroking through the oil into the dark depths of her. She moaned, lost in the pleasure, feeling him glide past her fingers on every deep plunge.
Sable shattered in orgasm, bursting into a million pieces. Lost in his love, her love, she felt his cock jerk and his come spurt in hot bursts, filling her ass with his seed. And through the blinding power of their mutual orgasm she was flooded with his thoughts.
So good. Yours, I’m yours. Never get enough. Want you more. Need you. Love you. Love you. Mine. All mine, my love.
Her heart broke.
* * * * *
Derek woke up with widest grin. He knew he must look starstruck, but he couldn’t help it. He felt boneless and sated to his very soul. His chosen mate knew how to please him very well. Sable had slept for an hour at most and then she’d woken him to a hot cleansing cloth wrapped around his cock, which was later followed by her hot mouth.
Insatiable, she’d fucked him repeatedly throughout the night and he’d given himself completely into her hands. She had drawn him into her calling, drenched him with her luxurious sensuality and loved him to his core. His grin began to hurt, it was so big.
She loved him. Sable Taylor loved him.
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She hadn’t actually said the words, she hadn’t even thought the words, but he’d felt it just the same. Her love for him was a precious thing. His most cherished possession.
He reached for her, but didn’t sense her. Derek frowned and sat up, searching for her with his eyes and his senses. “Sable?”
Silence. In the room and in his mind.
He tossed the covers back and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. A rustling noise stilled him. He dug through the covers until he found the note.
Derek,
We’re docked at your field office headquarters. I’ve gone. Don’t come for me. It’s over between us. I could never feel for you what you claim to feel for me and it wouldn’t be right to lead you on or give you hope for things that can never be.
I don’t want to make this harder for you. I’m sorry if you became more emotionally involved than you should have. It was never my intention to hurt you, but after Marius, your love is not something I want.
Thank you for your assistance in my investigation. Thank you for everything.
—Sable
Derek shook his head and blinked rapidly. Was he having a nightmare? He looked at the open clothes locker and saw that all of Sable’s belongings were gone.
Had she gone insane? Had he fucked the sense right out of her brain?
He must have, if she thought he was going to buy this shit. She loved him. He had no doubt about that. None.
He’d sensed her turmoil all night, had wondered about it and in the end had dismissed it as nerves. She was falling deeper and deeper in love with him, and he knew that scared her.
He crumpled the note in his hand.
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He sighed in resignation as he got out of the warm bed that smelled so strongly of sex and Sable. They were going to have to work on this fucking him and leaving bullshit.
Damned impossible woman.
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Chapter Eight
Derek walked into the quiet squad room. A quick glance at the monitor told him all of the other agents were out in the field. His name on the roster was dimmed, showing his leave of absence status.
“Atkinson.”
He turned to face Captain Hoff. “Yes, sir?”
“Is that Sable Taylor’s Starwing in docking bay 7?”
“It sure is.”
“Where is she?”
Shrugging, Derek said, “Hell if I know.”
“Is she in the med-lab?”
Derek turned and leaned back against the counter, his arms crossing his chest. He eyed the captain carefully. “Not that I’m aware of. Why would she be?”
Hoff smiled easily. “Glad to hear that. I’d heard there was a spot of trouble with her ship. I’m relieved to hear she wasn’t injured.”
“Umm,” Derek hummed. This was getting interesting. “I thought you didn’t like vamps?”
“I don’t. On the Force. She’s a bounty hunter and a good one. She’s helped us quite a bit, don’t you think?”
“Sure. I’m just surprised to hear that you do.” He pushed away from the counter.
“Well, it’s been fun chatting with you, Captain, but I’m still on leave, so I’ll be heading out now.”
“Are you leaving with Taylor?”
Derek studied the captain again. “Why would I do that?”
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A red brow arched sardonically. “You came here in her ship.”
“You sure know a lot about what happens with her,” Derek pointed out.
“That’s my job, Atkinson. I have to know wha
t’s going on with everyone who enters this building.” Hoff walked toward his office. “Enjoy your vacation.”
Derek watched the captain walk away, frowning at the thought that entered his mind. Hoff was far too interested in Sable, always had been. She was constantly being detained, sometimes for hours. In the past, he’d always assumed that her unconventional methods of capture had attracted the unwanted attention. Now, he wondered if there was more to Sable’s case than she’d let on.
How many secrets did she have?
* * * * *
Derek settled into the captain’s chair of the Viper and established a secure comm link with his assistant. He was not in a good mood. In fact, he felt murderous. He’d figured out where Sable had run off to. She was with Marius Drake. And he’d been chasing the two of them for almost three weeks. To his fury, he always seemed to be a step behind them.
Marius was a wealthy man with a dozen different residences scattered all over the galaxy. Unfortunately for Derek, he seemed determined to take Sable to each and every one of them, causing Derek to slowly lose his mind. So far he’d been able to detect by scent that Sable was using her own room and Marius was staying the hell away from her, but how long would that last? Loving Sable like he did, Derek knew it must be torture for Marius to have her so close and not take her. But if the other man touched her… And if she let him…
Derek growled.
The screen before him lit up with the image of his assistant and he offered a curt greeting.
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“Good afternoon to you, too, sir,” Stein returned. “On the Viper again, I see, and from your tone, I take it you were unsuccessful at catching up with them.”
“Not for much longer,” Derek muttered. “Did you discover anything interesting since the last time I spoke with you?”
“Quite a bit, actually.” Stein fumbled around on his cluttered desk. “I managed to hack into President Drake’s file.”
Derek grunted. “About damn time.”
“My job is not as easy as it looks, sir,” Stein retorted. “However, despite the delay, I think you’ll be pleased. Once I gained access to the file, I located Ms. Taylor’s. He hadn’t erased it as I’d originally thought, merely swallowed it into his.”
“Son of bitch,” Derek growled.
“There were some very interesting things in there. First of all, it appears that Ms.
Taylor has been a project of the President’s almost since birth.”
“I knew that already. He’s been grooming her to be his mate. He just wasn’t counting on her having any backbone.”
“Well, were you aware that he’s been tracking her?” Stein asked. “He’s had a tracking device on every one of her ships since she broke off their personal relationship.”
Derek’s eyes widened. Marius had put the tracking device on her ship? “I think that tracking device almost got her killed.”
“So you said. I researched the schematics of the particular devices used on Ms.
Taylor’s ships. The President had them specially designed so that the authorities wouldn’t be able to pick up the signal. It could only be read by a special receiver, one that he alone possesses.”
“Damn, so the Federation didn’t find her that way.”
“It doesn’t appear likely,” Stein agreed. “As I searched deeper into the President’s account, I noticed we aren’t the only ones who’ve been delving into his information.”
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“Hoff.”
Stein’s mouth fell open. “How the hell do you do that?” he asked, startling Derek with the rare curse.
“Hoff asked me some odd questions the last time I saw him and he knew about the attack against Sable’s ship.”
“So you’ve discovered the culprit. Ms. Taylor was the key after all.”
“I suppose that’s true, but not in the way I had originally assumed. Can you prove Hoff had access to the tracking device information?”
“Without a doubt. I’ll send a security team to apprehend him immediately.” Stein smiled. “Now that the traitor’s been discovered, sir, will you be dropping your cover and returning to the Security Council?”
“Soon,” Derek said evasively. He damn well wasn’t returning anywhere without Sable. “Did you get a copy of the video from the concourse on Rashier 6?”
“Yes, sir. I downloaded it to your ship just a few moments ago.”
“Excellent. I’m on way to Sarjon to check on another Drake residence. Comm me if you have any trouble with Hoff.”
“Of course. Good luck, sir. I’m looking forward to meeting Ms. Taylor. She sounds like a remarkable woman.”
“She is,” Derek murmured. “Atkinson out.”
He took a deep breath before playing the video taken by docking security on Rashier 6. Even though he knew deep in his soul that Sable loved him, part of him still feared what he would witness on the video.
He froze as the screen flickered and Sable appeared, standing on the cargo ramp of her Starwing speaking with Marius Drake. Stein had done an excellent job of filtering out the background noise and Derek listened in rapt attention as Marius blackmailed Sable into breaking off their relationship.
“I love him,” Sable told Marius on the tape.
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And Derek’s heart swelled. He hadn’t misread her. He rewound the video and played her words again. And again.
The tiny seed of doubt that had tried to take root, insidious and punishing, urging him to think that maybe Sable’s note had been the truth, withered and died and would never return.
“I’m coming for you, baby,” he whispered to her beloved face, frozen on the screen.
“I’m coming.”
* * * * *
It was approaching midnight when the transport cab pulled away from the large house. Sable waited a few moments more before leaving her hiding place in the bushes, just to be certain they wouldn’t return for something they’d forgotten. She’d finally solved her investigation. Now she had only to capture the culprit. She’d wondered how this hunt would go down when Captain Hoff had come out of his house with his family in tow. But then he’d kissed them goodbye and sent them on ahead.
Now it was just the two of them.
She crossed the moonlit circular driveway and rounded the side of the house.
Knowing how trigger-happy some agents were, Sable had waited until just a few moments ago to comm in her call for backup. She couldn’t risk them arriving too soon and scaring her prey away. Not after the last two years of hard work.
Marius had done his worst to screw up her life, so it was ironic that he’d really helped her instead. Living with him had given her access to his computers and his passwords. With those advantages, she’d planted information under his access code.
She’d created two secret Council files—one with a reference to a fabricated new weapon and one with a nonexistent “cure” for vampirism. Knowing that both of those items would be invaluable to the Federation, she’d deliberately left a back door to those files open and waited for the traitor to make their move.
It had been a risky gamble, but one that paid off. The traitor hadn’t bothered to hide 102
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his personal information when he’d downloaded the files. It would have taken weeks to circumvent the Council anti-hacker programs with an anonymous identity, and since Sable had set the files for automatic deletion in a couple days, she’d forced his hand.
He’d used his own unique access code and revealed his identity in his greed.
And now his gig was up, as the archaic saying went.
Sneaking into the house through the kitchen door, Sable moved into the living room and crawled up the wall to the ceiling. She could hear Hoff packing quickly, shoving documents into a bag along with a few articles of clothing. Her fingers twitched restlessly around the hilt of her lasersword, preventing it from slipping out and crashing to the floo
r below. She walked toward the hallway with noiseless steps.
Waiting.
Hunting.
Hoff fell silent and her senses heightened. She crouched low, hugging the ceiling, as the hairs on her nape stood on end. And then she heard it, the sounds of transports moving into the drive.
Damn it, how did the Task Force get here so fast? With a smothered curse, she crawled from the ceiling to the floor without a sound. Preparing to pounce, she was startled by a steely arm wrapping around her throat.
“Vamp bitch,” Hoff hissed in her ear. “I’d hoped those Federation ships would kill you! They would have too, if you hadn’t had Atkinson on board to assist you.”
Sable stilled, but she wasn’t afraid. She could easily break the human male in half with her bare hands. “Not a wise move,” she said casually. She felt a sharp prodding against her back.
“Feel that?”
“Yeah, don’t rip my tank. It’s my favorite.”
“I’m going to rip your heart out,” he growled. “And then I’m going to stake it through. The Federation is working on a program to eradicate your kind. I can only 103
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hope the information I sold them will speed up its inception.”
Sable rolled her eyes, grabbed the arm that crushed her windpipe and broke it.
The wooden stake in Hoff’s other hand pressed against her skin and then sank in an inch. It burned like forged metal and she hissed, her fangs descending, her animal nature springing to the fore. She spun on him, furious and prepared to kill. Vamps didn’t get defensive. They killed. Fully a predator, she lunged for his throat and was tackled from the side, the force of the blow carrying her across the room. In pain from the stake wound, Sable fought viciously against the men who held her down.
“Taylor!”
As she registered the sound of her captain’s voice, she felt the red haze of fury drain from her. She stared up at the STF agents who struggled to restrain her.
“I’m fine,” she growled. “I said I’m fine!” she repeated when they refused to release her.
“See?” screamed Hoff. “You can’t trust them! You can’t control them! They’re infected, diseased, rabid animals that need to be put down. They’ll kill us all. We’re nothing but food to them.”