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“Fantastic, stupendous, mind-blowing,” she said through suddenly dry lips. It was ridiculous how badly she craved him.
“Best sex you’ve ever had?” His silvery gaze probed too deeply for the question to be frivolous.
She shifted uncomfortably under the piercing silver stare and tried for levity. “With your libidinous reputation, I wouldn’t think your ego would need any more stroking.”
Derek’s hands stilled and he frowned. “I don’t mind telling you how much I enjoy making love to you.”
Making love. Sable looked down, fighting the feeling of joy that wanted to well up within her. “You know I enjoy it,” she said softly.
“Enough to be with only me? No one else?”
Her gaze flew to his in surprise. Was he serious? Suddenly very nervous, she leaned her back against the cool shower wall trying to create some distance between them.
“What exactly are you asking me?”
“I want to try and make this work, Sable.” Derek stepped under the spray to rinse off. “You and me. No one else.”
Her eyes slid shut. He was serious. She wanted to laugh and cry at the same time.
She knew what she should say, what her job demanded that she say. But she just couldn’t do it.
“I’d like that,” she whispered. Then she cried out in surprise as Derek pulled her against his chest and rewarded her with a quick, hard kiss.
“Thank God,” he muttered with touching relief.
“I’m not finished.”
He stiffened and pulled back to eye her warily.
Reaching up, she brushed his wet hair off his forehead with an affectionate caress.
He had such strong features with his aquiline nose, stubborn jaw and firm lips. She felt safe with him, knowing how prepared he was for everything. Her life had always been 43
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chaotic and she often faced ramifications for her rash choices long after they were made.
“I don’t want anyone else, Derek. But I can’t become involved with you right now.
There are some things I have to take care of first.”
“Like what?” His hands stroked the wet length of her spine possessively.
She tried to explain. “There are things you don’t know…”
“Then tell me.”
“I’m not supposed—”
“I don’t care.”
“You won’t like it.”
“I’ll get over it.”
She gave a rueful laugh at his dogged persistence. “Derek, can’t you just—”
“No.” His full lips thinned with determination. “Damn it. Do you want to be with me or not?”
“Yes, but—”
He shook his head. “No waiting. It’s been too fucking long as it is. Two years, Sable.
What’s holding you back? A husband you have stashed somewhere? A lover? Do you owe someone money?”
“No. Nothing like that.”
He shrugged. “Whatever it is, we’ll take care of it. Together.”
Sable reached behind him and shut off the water. “All right,” she conceded with a sigh. “I’m—”
An insistent beeping sound came from the cockpit. Derek growled in frustration at the interruption. “Ignore it.”
“The hyperdrive is recharged,” she said with a smile she knew didn’t hide her relief. She wasn’t ready to tell him yet. She didn’t want to take the chance of ruining what they had, whatever it was. There was no doubt in her mind that she’d be better off having a husband to hide, than admitting she worked for IAB. It was the unspoken 44
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code. Agents didn’t rat on agents. They protected their own. They didn’t hunt them down.
“It can wait,” he said obstinately. “Tell me.”
Sable tilted her head back and pressed her lips to his. It was the first time she’d ever made an advance toward him and when he shuddered, she realized just how much she really got to him. Her stomach fluttered. “That Federation ship might come back with reinforcements,” she reminded him against his lips.
He tugged her closer when she tried to step away. “Kiss me again, baby. And give it your all.”
Draping her arms atop his shoulders, Sable drew his mouth down to hers. She kissed him the way she’d always wanted to, with deep licks of her tongue along his until she felt the full, heavy prod of his erection against her belly. She laughed. “If we keep this up we’ll never get out of this Sector and I won’t be able to walk. I may be a vamp, but even I need a break.”
“Okay, okay,” he said with obvious reluctance. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”
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Chapter Four
Derek rose from the copilot’s chair and winced as his muscles creaked in protest.
They’d been held in flight for over three hours, waiting for a docking port to open on Rashier 6. Sable had the ship well in hand, but he preferred sitting with her rather than occupying himself elsewhere. That thought had him smothering a wry laugh.
Everything she did fascinated him, even sitting in a chair cursing at the control tower.
“Who are we hunting now?” he asked.
Sable stood and stretched as well, her full breasts straining the front of her bio-suit as she arched her back. “Don’t you have to go back to work? And what about your ship? Your belongings? You don’t have any clothes beside your uniform.”
“Trying to get rid of me?”
“I didn’t say that, Derek.”
Reaching for her hand, he laced his fingers with hers. “I took a leave of absence and my ship is docked at the field office. It’ll be fine. I’ll buy what I need as soon we disembark and then I’ll get out of this.” He tugged on the front of his uniform with his free hand.
“I think you look sexy as hell in that uniform,” she said in a provocative purr that heated his blood.
He smiled. She’d softened toward him considerably since they’d gotten out of the shower.
She pressed a swift kiss to his mouth. “Thank you for taking the trouble to come after me, even if you did stow away to do it.”
He liked that. She was starting to reach out to him physically. Things were progressing between them and he felt a deep masculine satisfaction that their 46
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relationship had developed so much quicker than he’d anticipated. She’d been worth the wait.
Sable tugged her hand from his. “We can’t hold hands.”
Derek stared at her, agape. Maybe he hadn’t gotten that far after all. “Why the hell not?”
Her smile was almost… sympathetic. “We can’t make it obvious that we’re…that you and I are…” She winced.
“Dating? Fucking?” he suggested rudely. Damn it, it hurt that she wanted to hide him.
Her wince deepened. “Yeah.”
“Fine.” He walked away, his jaw clenched.
“Fine?”
He heard the wounded note in her question and smiled grimly. “Whatever you want, baby,” he said baldly.
Derek hit the release for the cargo door and exited into the bustling terminal. He felt Sable following him and reached out with his mind, using stealth so she remained unaware of his probing. Her sadness was deep and almost tangible. Derek’s chest tightened. He could deal with her anger—hell, he’d love a good screaming match right now—but her sadness ripped at his insides. That sharp flare of pain made him realize how much he cared for her.
Not that he was completely clueless. He’d known he liked her a great deal and wanted to spend some exclusive time to get to know her better, but he hadn’t quite understood that she had the power to wound him, as well as arouse him. It was a risk he wasn’t sure he was ready to deal with.
He stopped at the maintenance counter and made arrangements for repairs to be done to the damaged Starwing. Then he continued on to the taxi terminal.
“I’m sorry,” Sable said in a whisper be
hind him. “I don’t want it to be like this.
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Please believe that.”
Derek gritted his teeth. Why couldn’t he have felt this way about a different woman? Someone open, with nothing to hide. Someone who wanted him as much as he wanted her.
He didn’t speak to her again for hours.
Catching a cab, they worked their way through the multi-tiered traffic and headed toward the hotel they’d booked. The air and streets were clogged with tourists of all species. Riotous banners stretched from skyscraper to skyscraper just above the teaming transports. The overall effect of the city was one of prosperity and celebration, but the mood didn’t impress upon him or Sable. After the closeness they’d just shared, this pained silence was like an ice water bath.
They reached the hotel and she blatantly ignored him as she checked in. She grabbed her keycard and left him staring after her as she ascended in the elevator without him. Just to spite her, he insisted on taking the room that adjoined hers. He’d be damned if he took a separate floor just to please her skewed sense of propriety.
Pissed off, Derek left the hotel and went shopping for clothes and toiletries. After changing in the dressing room of a clothing store, he sent his uniform and purchases back to the hotel and headed for a nearby telecomm café. Settling into a booth away from the large glass window and the prying eyes of the pedestrians on the other side, he inserted his identi-card and waited only a moment before his assistant appeared on the screen.
“Hello, sir,” Charles Stein greeted with a smile. He glanced away from the monitor and then said, “On Rashier 6, I see. Great time of year to visit. They’re in the middle of their Retro-bration, aren’t they?”
“I have no idea,” Derek said dryly. He hadn’t been paying any attention to his surroundings because he was too angry at Sable. That was a sure sign that he was screwed. His entire life was centered on the need to know what the hell was going on around him. “I need all the information you can locate on a woman named Sable 48
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Taylor. Namely service work or maintenance done on her Starwing.”
“Just a moment.” Stein frowned, then typed furiously on his keyboard. “Well, there’s not much in the Council database.” Distracted, his voice lowered as he read from the screen. “In fact, there is no record at all for Ms. Taylor prior to ten years ago.”
Derek scowled. “That’s not possible. She’s a vamp, at least a hundred and fifty years old. I’ve checked her file before and it was a kilometer long.” He tried to remember what he could about the contents of that file and then sighed at the realization that he’d been more interested in the photos than the details about her transportation.
Stein typed some more, digging deep into the Council’s records. “Sorry, sir. Her file isn’t hidden, it’s been erased.”
Erased? Impossible. It took the authority of the Interstellar Council’s majority vote to delete information from the database. “What’s left in her file?”
“Her name, address and bank account info.”
“Her personal history is gone?” Derek asked. “No dating history, no family records, no next of kin?”
“Nothing at all of a personal nature.”
“Shit.” Derek rocked back in his chair. “Who was the last person to access her file?”
Stein checked, then whistled softly. “Marius Drake, President of the Interstellar Council General Assembly.”
Derek nodded grimly, not the least bit surprised, but aching with the news just the same. “And one of the few people with high enough access to tamper with the database.”
“That’s true. It’s still illegal, but he could pull it off, if his need was strong enough.”
Stein looked back into the monitor at Derek. “Why would President Drake have an interest in a bounty hunter? Whatever the reason, it can’t be good.”
“Yeah, my luck to get involved with trouble.”
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“Involved?” Stein blinked. “As in a ‘personal’ type of involved?”
“Don’t look so shocked.”
“I’ve known you a long time, sir, and in that time you’ve never been ‘involved’ with anyone.”
“There’s a first time for everything.”
“While I won’t disagree, I suggest perhaps you should leave this particular female alone. I don’t like the looks of this.”
“I wish it were that easy.” Derek ran a hand through his hair. Sable was into something dangerous. Had he finally fallen hard for a woman, only to have to arrest her? He drummed his fingers on the table. If Sable were involved in a criminal enterprise it would explain her desire to keep their burgeoning relationship a secret.
Her dating a STF agent could get them both staked. “Keep digging, Stein. I’ll check back with you in a few days to see what you’ve turned up.”
“Of course. Perhaps you should spend the interval asking Ms. Taylor about herself.
If she feels the same way about you as you feel about her, she’ll tell you the truth.”
Derek nodded. “She damn well better.”
* * * * *
Sable eyed the slinky, silver dress on the bed warily. It was Retro-bration on Rashier 6 and she had to wear the old-fashioned thing if she wanted to fit in—whether she hated it or not. No matter what, she needed to gain admittance to the RetroBall being held in the hotel later that evening. Jeffrey Leroy had reported that he would be attending the event in the course of his duties and she planned to shadow him until she could determine what he was up to.
Sighing in resignation, she shrugged to herself. Oh well. When in Rashier, do as the Rashiens do. Or something like that.
“Put it on.”
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She spun to face Derek, who leaned against the frame of the open adjoining doorway.
“How do you always sneak up on me like that?” she asked breathlessly, drinking in the sight of him. He’d been gone for hours and she was so happy to see him.
But he didn’t look at all happy to see her.
“Your focus is always divided.”
Looking past him, she saw the bed behind him. “You took the room next to mine?”
“You’re the reason I’m here,” he said in a dry tone of voice that betrayed his continuing anger. “It would be stupid to stay away from you.”
Wincing, Sable acknowledged that he had every right to be pissed off. She’d treated him horribly earlier and she’d had some time to think about what she’d done. One of the reasons she’d hesitated to take him seriously was because she was afraid that he would hurt her. So what did she do? Hurt him first. It wasn’t right. She needed to be honest with him and tell him who she was. If he didn’t want to be with her after he knew, that’s just the way things were. Better to know now. Hurting him to save her feelings wasn’t the way to go about it. “Derek, let me explain.” She held out her hand to him.
His silver gaze narrowed dangerously. “I’m not a fuck toy, Sable.”
“I never said you were.”
“That’s how you treat me. The only time I can get anywhere near you is when I’m fucking you.”
Obviously, she couldn’t talk to him when he was this riled up. His hands were balled into fists and his jaw was clenched tight.
She licked her lips and watched his eyes smolder as they followed her tongue. “We can’t talk when you’re this tense.” She strolled toward him with an exaggerated swing of her hips. The sudden, elevated tensing of his powerful frame was tangible. “Let me help you relax and then I’ll tell you everything.”
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“Tell me now.”
“You’re not in the mood to listen to me. You want to pick a fight. I’d rather use that energy doing something a little more pleasant.”
“An orgasm is not going to make me feel better,” he growled.
“Are you sure about that? I hope you forgive me, but
I’m going to touch you anyway. You see, once you hear what I have to say, you may not ever want me to touch you again. And if that’s what’s going to happen, I’ll take what I can get now.” She pressed a kiss to his pursed lips and then sank gracefully to her knees.
“Sable.” His deep voice was dark with warning. “Damn it. If you tell me the truth, you won’t have to worry about me leaving you.”
“I will tell you the truth. I promise. When I’m done.” She worked the fastenings of his trousers slowly, drawing out his anticipation. She watched his magnificent cock swell before her eyes. “I do miss the uniform, I have to admit. But I like you best naked.
You have such a gorgeous body, Derek. And it pleases me so well.”
He stilled her hands with his own.
She looked up at him with pleading eyes, her breathing rapid in near panic. She’d die if she didn’t get this last time with him. “Let me suck you, baby,” she said hoarsely.
“What are you hiding?” Derek’s large hand cupped her cheek. “Why are you doing this?”
“Wouldn’t you like to come in my mouth?”
His face flushed with reluctant desire. “I want answers. I want to know what kind of trouble you’re in.”
“If you trust me to tell you the truth now, you should trust me to tell you the truth later.” She reached into his pants and tugged out his heavy shaft. Without hesitation, she licked across the plum-sized head and down along a ridged vein.
Derek’s breath hissed out between his teeth and his hips bucked forward. “Sable…”
“Shhh. I’m so sorry for how I treated you earlier. Just relax and let me apologize to 52
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you properly. You can ask me questions later.” A shiny drop of fluid graced the tip of his cock and she eagerly sucked it into her mouth, shivering at the taste of him.
“Fuck.” His eyes slid shut. “I’m so screwed.” Despite his frustration, his hands tangled in her hair, holding her still while he slipped his cock between her parted lips.
Sable moaned at the feel of his thickly veined shaft sliding along her tongue. The skin was soft and stretched tight over the pulsing hardness beneath. She cupped his ass, kneading gently, feeling his ass cheeks clench as he thrust deeper into her mouth. She began to suck as he fucked slowly through the circle of her lips, a steady, shallow rhythm accompanied by guttural cries from his throat. She shivered at the feel of her cunt creaming with desire—a desire created by the sheer erotic delight she received in concentrating entirely on his needs. He’d spent so many hours giving pleasure to her. It was long past the time when she should return the favor.